Are e-KYC norms excluding MGNREGA workers?, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• Approximately 27 lakh MGNREGA workers were deleted between October 10 and November 14, 2025, nearly double the 15 lakh deletions in the previous six months.
• The surge in deletions coincides with the Union government's push for e-KYC (know your customer) verification of workers.
• The government aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and service delivery under MGNREGA through e-KYC.
• Over 56% of active workers have completed their e-KYC verification across states.

Detailed Insights:

• The government has previously introduced verification methods like the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) and Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS) to prevent ineligible beneficiaries.
• NMMS, requiring geotagged worker photos, faced issues like poor connectivity and lack of technical skills, leading to wage loss and manipulated data.
• ABPS, using Aadhaar for payments, encountered challenges due to mismatched demographic details between Aadhaar and job cards, causing worker exclusion.
• Despite government claims, data suggests a correlation between high e-KYC completion rates and increased worker deletions in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh.
• The Ministry issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in January 2025 for deleting job cards, including safeguards like publishing names and allowing appeals, but has not addressed the correlation between e-KYC and deletions.

Key Concepts Involved:

• e-KYC (Electronic Know Your Customer): Digital verification process to confirm the identity of MGNREGA workers using their Aadhaar data.
• MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act): Indian law guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment to rural households willing to do unskilled manual work.
• Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS): Payment system that uses the Aadhaar number as a financial address for direct benefit transfer.