MGNREGA workers not paid wages for four months

Time of India

09-05-2025

Koppal: Over 3,000 outsourced workers under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) in the state have not received their wages for the past four months, leading to considerable financial strain.These workers, who play a crucial role in executing MGNREGA initiatives, enhancing educational facilities, and building rural infrastructure across 31 districts, are facing severe challenges in meeting their daily needs due to the delays in receiving wages.
Vasigerappa K from the Koppal District MGNREGA Employees Welfare Development Association highlights that among these workers are ADPC, district IEC coordinator, DMIS, district account manager, DEO at the district level, and technical coordinators at the taluk level. All are struggling to manage their daily lives.He emphasises that employees rely on their monthly salaries, particularly those in MGNREGA who must travel frequently for field visits and meetings. The lack of salary for four months is making it increasingly difficult for them to participate in these essential activities.Commissioner Pawan Kumar Malipatil of the rural development and panchayat raj department stated, "The Union govt has mandated the payment of salaries through a new software module. This has led to several challenges, particularly in adding employees' accounts. We are currently addressing the software issues, and salaries will be disbursed within a few days," he assured.Previously, salaries were issued via the MGNREGA REAT (Receipts, Expenditure, Advances, and Transfers) module at administrative costs. Problems arose when the Union govt required salary payments to be processed through the SNA (Single Nodal Account) SPARSH (Samayochit Prannali Integrated Shighra Hastantaran) module as part of the K2 Public Financial Management System software. Technical issues with the software have hindered the proper updating of employee information, causing delays in salary payments.Affected employees have expressed frustration, stating, "The relevant authorities have been taking four months to resolve this issue. As a result, approximately 3,000 MGNREGA employees in the state are currently without their salaries."The situation is worsened by unfulfilled promises. Although the state govt committed in last year's budget to offer health insurance, this benefit has not yet been realised. Employees are now demanding an immediate solution to the software issues impacting salary payments and the rollout of the promised health insurance programme.