MGNREGA Worker Deletions and e-KYC Implementation

In a significant development, between October 10 and November 14, nearly 27 lakh worker names were deleted from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) database, far surpassing the 10.5 lakh additions in the same timeframe. This spike in deletions coincides with the initiation of the electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) process, aimed at filtering out ineligible beneficiaries.

Key Statistics and Observations

• Over the past six months, deletions totaled approximately 15 lakh, but the figure jumped to 27 lakh in just one month.
• In the initial six months of the financial year 2025-26, MGNREGA recorded net additions of 83.6 lakh workers, with 98.8 lakh additions against 15.2 lakh deletions.
• By mid-November, net additions reduced to 66.5 lakh, effectively removing 17 lakh workers in a single month.
• Among the deleted, 6 lakh were active workers, defined as those who worked at least one day in the past three years.

State-Specific Data

• Andhra Pradesh: 15.92 lakh deletions with a 78.4% e-KYC completion rate.
• Tamil Nadu: 30,529 deletions with a 67.6% e-KYC completion rate.
• Chhattisgarh: 1.04 lakh deletions with a 66.6% e-KYC completion rate.

Official Stance and Procedures

• The Ministry of Rural Development attributes the deletions to ongoing job card verification, which the State governments and gram panchayats are responsible for.
• A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) mandates that job cards up for deletion be publicly listed, allowing an appeal period and requiring gram sabha approval.

e-KYC and Technology Challenges

• The e-KYC process involves taking photos of workers, validating them through the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) against Aadhaar data.
• Discoveries of misuse of the NMMS platform led to the introduction of e-KYC, with issues like uploading irrelevant photos and mismatched worker details.
• The Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS), mandatory since 2023, uses a worker's Aadhaar number as a financial address, causing some genuine workers' exclusion.

Concerns and Impact

• Chakradhar Buddha, a senior researcher at Lib Tech, highlights that new Aadhaar-linked technologies like ABPS and e-KYC often lead to increased worker exclusions.
• There is a call for assessing the impact of such technologies on workers before widespread implementation to avoid large-scale exclusions.