Centre allows ‘mixed’ payment route for NREGS till March 31 amid protests over Aadhaar-linked system

The NACH is a fund clearing platform set up by National Payments Corporation of India and it electronically facilitates recurring interbank transactions. While the ABPS uses the Aadhaar number for identification of beneficiaries for fund transfer, the NACH uses bank account details.

The Centre had decided to make the use of the ABPS mandatory for payment of NREGS wage with effect from February 1. Activists from the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha have been protesting against this move.

In a statement on Sunday, the group said: “The workers are demanding (i) the immediate removal of the NMMS app, (ii) the reversal of the order dated February 3, 2023 requiring all NREGA payments to be made via the Aadhar Based Payment System (ABPS), and (iii) timely payment of wages and immediate release of wages that have been pending for over a year.”

The Ministry of Rural Development said in a statement on Sunday: “For wage payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Government has decided, on the request of States, to have a mixed model for payment route up to 31st March, 2023. The payment of wages to every beneficiary under MGNREGS is being done using Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS) as well as National Automated Clearing House (NACH) depending upon the ABPS status of the beneficiary.”

“There are two routes to be used in payment of wages: ABPS- If beneficiary is linked with ABPS then payment can be made through ABPS only, and NACH- If beneficiary is not linked with ABPS due to some technical reasons etc. then Program Officer can select NACH as the mode of payment of wages,” said the statement issued on Sunday.

The statement said: “The number of active workers under Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme is 14.96 crore. Government of India is committed towards ensuring timely wage payment of each worker under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Out of 14.96 crore workers, Aadhaar seeding of 14.27 crore workers (95.4%) has been done in NREGASoft, in which a total of 10.05 crore workers have been registered under the ABPS.”

“There were a total of 4.60 crore transactions in the month of February 2023 for wage payment, out of which 3.57 crore transactions (77.6%) were made through ABPS,” it said.

The ministry said: “The ABPS, as one of the routes for wage payment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, was introduced for timely payment of wages. The system ensures that there will be no delay in payments due to bank account related problems. The system also ensures transparency towards the payment of the workers. Aadhaar seeding and ABPS are in place under the scheme since 2017.”