‘Over Rs 81,500 crore released to states, UTs under MGNREGA’

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said over Rs 81,500 crore has been released to states and Union Territories under the MGNREGS employment scheme in the current financial year so far, asserting that wage payments are being made on a continuous basis through a direct transfer mechanism.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan also said that pending liabilities across states as of March 11, 2026, were around Rs. 18,862 crore - Rws 8,688.29 crore for wages, Rs 9,692.28 crore for material, and Rs 502.42 crore for administrative components.

As on March 11, 2026, a total of Rs. 81,502.62 crore has been released under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme during 2025-26, including Rs 65,875.13 crore for wage payments and Rs 15,627.48 crore for material and administrative components, he said.

The MoS said all due and admissible pending wage liabilities up to FY 2024-25 have already been cleared, except in case of West Bengal.

According to the government, release of funds under the MGNREGS to the State of West Bengal has been stopped since March 9, 2022, as per the provisions of Section 27 of the Act due to non-compliance with the directives of the central government.

He said the proposal for upward revision of the Labour Budget for FY 2021-22 for the State of West Bengal was not approved by the Empowered Committee, MGNREGS, Department of Rural Development, due to non-compliance with the directives issued by this Department.

According to the government’s NREGASoft e-governance platform, the pending liability pertaining to West Bengal (as on 08.03.2022) stands at Rs 3082.52 crore, comprising Rs 1457.22 crore under the wage component, Rs 1607.68 crore under the material component, and Rs 17.62 crore under the administrative component.

The minister said the admissibility of this liability is subject to verification by the Central government.

The Trinamool Congress, which is in power in West Bengal, has claimed that the dues for work already done include Rs 3,700 crore under the wage component, and Rs 3,200 crore under the non-wage component.