Delayed wage payments, deletion of job cards, ineffective social audit, and stoppage of funds for West Bengal–these were some of the key issues flagged by multiple stake holders during a ‘brainstorming session’ organised by the Ministry of Rural Development in New Delhi Wednesday on the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the country.

Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired the meeting seeking suggestions from civil society organisations; NREGA workers from various states whose households completed 100 days of work; the nodal officer in several states along with departmental secretary; and joint secretaries of the MoRD.

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People familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times that one of the key issues discussed during the meeting was the deletion of job cards.

“We told the Minister that the ‘deletion of job cards must follow due process as in our field visits there were were significant gaps’…We also told the Minister that the ‘reason for deletions, such as fake applicants, or people not willing to work among others often lack proper verification undermining trust in the system. And all this has increased after ABPS was made mandatory,” said the person familiar with the issue, and has been associated with ‘NREGA Sangarsha Morcha’–a national platform of workers’ collectives, trade unions, organisations and individuals working on its implementation.

Responding to a question on December 17, MoS MoRD Kamlesh Paswan informed the Lok Sabha that the number of jobs cards deleted stood at 2.25 crore and 1.02 crore in FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24 respectively.

People familiar with the matter said that civil society organisations also raised the issue of their delayed payments.

“We said that ‘the long delays coupled with low wage rates have a discouraged worker effect, leading to dropouts and distress migration’,” another person, part of the meeting said.

People in the know of the development with the issue said that Chouhan told the gathering that a ‘samanvay (coordination)’ needed to be brought in the NREGA implementation.

People aware of the details told HT, “Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that ‘there needs to be a better coordination so that there is no fraudulence, and the work gets implemented with honesty. And if it is done, then then it will be easy for the government to give jobs to the people under NREGA with the same amount of money’.”

The issue of West Bengal was also discussed where the Centre has stopped releasing NREGA funds for the state since December 27, 2021, alleging misappropriation of funds.

People familiar with the development also added that it was suggested that a committee comprising members of the ruling and the opposition party be comprised along with civil society members look into the issue.