Tamil Nadu does not seem to be affected by the Centre’s move of making Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) mandatory for the payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
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There are about 92.13 lakh active workers attached to 76.62 lakh active job cards. According to data available on the dashboard of the MGRNEGA’s website run by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, 90.3 lakh active workers (accounting for 98%) have been found to be falling under the category of “ABPS eligible” workers.
An official of the State government says that for the last six or seven months, the wages are being paid through ABPS smoothly. Asked whether any deletion of workers has been done, the official replies that he has not come across any such instance.
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The State has a total of 91.17 lakh job cards with about 1.25 crore workers. But, the number of active job cards is 76.62 lakh only. The active job card relates to those workers who have been coming to work for the last three years. Those enumerated in the 15 lakh cards did not come to work in the last three years. Only if they return to work, will they be considered active workers.
As for the State’s performance in generation of person days, Tamil Nadu stands first at the all-India level, going by the data available on the MGNREGA website of the Union Ministry.
As on date, the number of person days generated was nearly 37. 19 crore against the approved labour budget of 37 crore person days. In the previous three years too (2020-21 to 2022-23), the State had exceeded the targets. In 2022-23, its performance was about 33.47 crore person days against the target of 32 crore. This year, an amount of ₹ 8,607 crore was paid towards wages.