Over 7.43 lakh MNREGA ‘fake job cards’ removed

New Delhi: Over 7.43 lakh “false” work cards were thrown out in 2022-23 due to the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, of which over 2.96 lakh were in Uttar Pradesh, not the Centre. Lok Sabha. In response to a question this week, Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti shared details about the false work cards. The data revealed that 7,43,457 false work cards were thrown out in 2022-23 and 3,06,944 in 2021-22. Uttar Pradesh was responsible for the highest number of exclusions due to the fact that these work cards were false. About 67,937 fake work cards were thrown out in Uttar Pradesh in 2021-23 and this number will increase to 2,96,464 in 2022-23. Odisha stood second with 1,14,333 work cards in 2022-23 and 50,817 in 2021-22. In Madhya Pradesh, 27,859 fake work cards were thrown out in the last financial year and 95,209 in 2021-22. The corresponding numbers for Bihar were 80.203 and 27.062. In Jharkhand, 70,673 work cards were issued in 2022-23 and 23,528 in the last year. In Andhra Pradesh, although the number of false work cards issued in 2021-22 was 1,833, it increased significantly to 46,662 in the last financial year. In Rajasthan, 45,646 false work cards were thrown out in 2022-23 and 14,782 in 2021-22. In Bengal Occidental, whose MNREGA payments have been pending for two years due to corruption allegations, 5,263 work cards were terminated in 2022-23 due to incorrect work cards and 388 work cards in 2021-22. Jyoti said that rolling out and updating the work portfolio is a “continuous process” and as per Section 25 of the Act, any person violating its provisions will be liable to a fine which can reach Rs 1,000 in case of conviction. Could. “Furthermore, dissemination of Aadhaar has become mandatory for duplication of bank data of beneficiaries to avoid generation of fake work cards,” he said. Meanwhile, 6,47,8345 new work cards were issued in 2022-23, Jyoti said in a written reply to another question in the Lok Sabha. In 2021-22, 1,20,63,967 new work cards were issued, while in 2020-21, the year that saw the COVID-19-induced lockdown, 1,91,05,369 new work cards were issued. According to a reply given by Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh in the Lok Sabha during the Parliament session, the job cards of more than 5.18 million workers were abolished in 2022-23, or which represents an increase of 247.06. percent compared to 2021-22, when the number was more than 1,49 crore. People belonging to these employments are excluded for various reasons, including being incorrect or duplicate and when a beneficiary moves out of the panchayat area or dies.