Centre Allocates Over ₹68,000 Crore for MGNREGA: What You Need to Know

Significant Funding for Rural Employment Scheme

New Delhi: The government has disbursed ₹68,393.67 crore to various states and Union Territories under the MGNREGA scheme, as announced by Kamlesh Paswan, the Minister of State for Rural Development, on Friday.

In a written statement to the Rajya Sabha, Paswan detailed that ₹57,853.62 crore has been allocated for wages as of November 26, while ₹10,540.05 crore has been designated for materials and administrative expenses.

For the fiscal year 2025-26, the MGNREGA budget stands at ₹86,000 crore.

The minister also highlighted that as of November 26, the pending liabilities for wages, materials, and administrative costs under the scheme total ₹10,127.58 crore. This includes ₹1,687.27 crore for wages, ₹8,008.48 crore for materials, and ₹431.83 crore for administrative expenses.

Among the states, Andhra Pradesh has outstanding wage liabilities of ₹381.02 crore, material liabilities of ₹530.45 crore, and ₹27.51 crore for administrative costs. Additionally, Kerala has ₹248.42 crore pending for wages, Mizoram ₹91 crore, Madhya Pradesh ₹64.14 crore, and Gujarat ₹46.98 crore.

In terms of material liabilities, the Centre owes ₹1,007.58 crore to Uttar Pradesh, ₹880 crore to Rajasthan, ₹655.03 crore to Madhya Pradesh, and ₹668.80 crore to Maharashtra.

Interestingly, the report did not indicate any pending liabilities for West Bengal for the current financial year.

Funding for West Bengal under the MGNREGA was halted on March 9, 2022, due to the state's failure to comply with central government directives, as per Section 27 of the MGNREGA.

Paswan emphasized that MGNREGS operates as a demand-driven wage employment initiative, with fund releases being a continuous process.

Wage payments are directly transferred to beneficiaries' accounts by the Central Government through the Direct Benefit Transfer system. The Ministry issues daily sanctions for wage payments via the Public Finance Management System (PFMS), based on fund transfer requests from the states.

At the start of each financial year, any pending liabilities from the previous year are reimbursed by the Government of India, with all wage liabilities cleared up to FY 2024-25, excluding those of West Bengal.

Regarding materials and administrative components, states and UTs must submit fund release proposals to the central government.

The Central Government disburses funds in two phases, with each phase potentially comprising multiple installments, considering the agreed Labour Budget, work demand, opening balances, fund utilization rates, pending liabilities, and overall performance, along with the submission of necessary documentation.