{"id":74659,"date":"2025-11-23T11:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T05:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=74659"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:42:10","slug":"e-kyc-drive-triggers-mass-deletions-in-mgnrega-worker-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/e-kyc-drive-triggers-mass-deletions-in-mgnrega-worker-records\/","title":{"rendered":"e-KYC Drive Triggers Mass Deletions in MGNREGA Worker Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>MGNREGA Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/mgnrega\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> covers nearly 26 crore registered workers across 2.69 lakh gram panchayats. Over the past six months, around 15 lakh workers were removed from the database.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, within just one month \u2014 from October 10 to November 14, 2025 \u2014 deletions spiked to 27 lakh, far exceeding the 10.5 lakh new additions during the same period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This unprecedented rise in deletions coincides with the Union government\u2019s intensified push for <\/span><b>mandatory e-KYC verification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to identify and remove ineligible or duplicate beneficiaries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Concerns are growing that the verification drive may be excluding genuine workers who struggle with documentation or biometric-related issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Legal Provisions on Job Cards<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under Para 2 of Schedule II, Gram Panchayats must issue job cards within <\/span><b>15 days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of receiving an application.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job cards must include a unique number, registration details, insurance details, and Aadhaar numbers (if any).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per Para 3 of Schedule II, job cards must be <\/span><b>renewed every five years<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after proper verification.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">States, through Panchayati Raj Institutions, are responsible for issuance, verification, and renewal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Government\u2019s Rationale for e-KYC Push<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Ministry of Rural Development has stated that verifying MGNREGA workers is an ongoing exercise, and e-KYC is an additional step to enhance transparency and efficiency.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Ministry, the <\/span><b>digital verification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> process is intended to improve service delivery and reduce inclusion errors.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, over 56% of active workers have completed e-KYC across States, indicating steady progress in the verification drive.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Methods of Worker Verification<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the introduction of e-KYC, the government relied on multiple digital and Aadhaar-linked verification measures to prevent ineligible beneficiaries under MGNREGA:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Digital Attendance (NMMS App)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: After a year-long pilot from May 2022, workers\u2019 attendance had to be captured via the National Mobile Monitoring System. Mates\/supervisors uploaded geotagged photos twice daily from worksites.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Made mandatory in January 2023, ABPS required workers\u2019 Aadhaar to be linked with job cards and bank accounts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>NPCI Mapping Requirements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Workers\u2019 Aadhaar numbers and banks\u2019 IINs had to be mapped with the NPCI database to enable Aadhaar-based payments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These steps aimed to tighten verification, reduce duplication, and ensure payments reached genuine workers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>e-KYC Process<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the e-KYC system integrated into the NMMS app, supervisors photograph each MNREGA worker at the worksite.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This image is then digitally matched with the worker\u2019s Aadhaar database photo to verify identity instantly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 99.67% of active workers have Aadhaar seeded, e-KYC provides a quick, accurate, and reliable verification method.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Link Between e-KYC Drive and MNREGA Worker Deletions<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier digital measures \u2014 NMMS for attendance and Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) \u2014 were introduced to improve transparency but instead caused widespread exclusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Issues included <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">poor network connectivity, limited digital literacy, and technical failures<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that prevented attendance capture, leading to wage loss.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Aadhaar Seeding and Data Mismatch Problems<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ABPS required perfect matching of Aadhaar details with job cards and bank accounts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minor spelling differences in names or demographic discrepancies frequently caused workers\u2019 records to be rejected.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During ABPS rollout, deletions surged by 247% between 2021-22 and 2022-23.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Failures in NMMS Implementation<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NMMS did not deliver the intended transparency. Problems included:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Uploading irrelevant or fake photos<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Photo-to-photo capturing instead of live images<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large mismatches between actual and recorded attendance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To fix this, the government introduced a multi-level verification system, with 100% verification at gram panchayat level and reduced checks at higher levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Introduction of e-KYC Due to NMMS Shortcomings<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">e-KYC was introduced partly because NMMS verification was unreliable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new system seeks to validate identity using live photo matching with Aadhaar.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Government Denies a Direct Link<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government claims deletions follow a strict SOP issued in January, ensuring transparency and allowing appeals before deletion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It rejects claims that e-KYC itself is causing deletions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite government denial, States with high e-KYC completion rates are reporting massive deletions:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andhra Pradesh: 78.4% e-KYC done \u2192 15.92 lakh deletions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tamil Nadu: 67.6% \u2192 30,529 deletions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chhattisgarh: 66.6% \u2192 1.04 lakh deletions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This raises questions about whether the e-KYC drive is indirectly contributing to exclusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Overall Assurance<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry affirms its dedication to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protecting the rights of every genuine MGNREGA worker<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensuring uninterrupted wage employment<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in scheme implementation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/are-e-kyc-norms-excluding-mgnrega-workers-explained\/article70312189.ece#:~:text=The%20Union%20Ministry%20of%20Rural,MGNREGA%2C%E2%80%9D%20the%20statement%20said.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2192467\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PIB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MGNREGA worker deletions have surged during the government\u2019s e-KYC drive, sparking concerns over exclusion, verification gaps, and Aadhaar-related issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":74781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,3107,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-74659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-mgnrega","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}