All wage payments to MGNREGA workers from April 1 through DBT: Govt

New Delhi: In order to prevent leakages in the flagship rural job programme, all wage payments to MGNREGA workers will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer to bank accounts of the beneficiaries from April this year, Government said Tuesday.

Addressing a MGNREGA Sammelan on the occasion of the programme completing ten years, Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said that from April 1, 2016 all wage payments to MGNREGA workers will be done through DBT.

Currently, 94 percent of the wage payments are directly deposited in the account of beneficiaries, Singh said.

For smooth fund flow, the electronic Fund Management System (e-FMS) has been made mandatory from April 1 this year.

The Minister said that among the reforms responsible for revival of MGNREGA are timely release of funds to states to provide work on demand, an electronic fund management system, consistent coordination between banks and post offices besides monitoring of pendency of payments.

The personday generation is the highest in the second quarter at 45.88 crore and in the third quarter at 46.10 crore than it has been in the last five years.

Singh also said that more than 64 percent of total expenditure was on agriculture and allied activities and 57 percent of all workers were women, well above the statutory requirement of 33 percent, the highest in three years.

Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat said that since the start of the programme, the expenditure on it has amounted to Rs 3,13,844.55 crore and out of this 71 percent has been spent on wage payments to workers.

He said, the focus for the upcoming years will be on simplification and strengthening of procedures and a Master Circular is being issued today which consolidates all key instructions from the central government on the implementation of the Act.

Bhagat said the Ministry will also aim to train and place 10,000 Barefoot Technicians from worker households and through Project LIFE, skill and train workers for wages, for self-employment and livelihood upgradation.