Context:

Approximately 27 lakh (2.7 million) workers' names were deleted from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) database between October 10 and November 14, 2025. This spike in deletions has been linked to the government's mandatory e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer) and Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) drives.

Reasons behind this Push for e-KYC:

The government introduced e-KYC to strengthen transparency and curb misuse of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) - the digital attendance system made mandatory for MGNREGS worksites.

Under NMMS:

• • Mates must upload geo-tagged photographs of workers twice daily.
  • These photos are matched against Aadhaar-linked data during e-KYC.

A Ministry note dated July 8 flagged widespread misuse:

• • Uploading irrelevant or unrelated photographs
  • Photo-to-photo capturing, instead of live images
  • Mismatch between actual and recorded workers
  • Duplicate images in multiple muster rolls
  • Absence of afternoon photos and inconsistent gender composition

To address these concerns, Government introduced e-KYC for MGNREGS workers.

About Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)—implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA)—is one of the world’s largest rights-based social security programmes. It provides a legal guarantee of at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.

Objectives:

·         Enhance livelihood security of rural households.

·         Create durable assets (water conservation, land development, infrastructure).

·         Strengthen natural resource management.

·         Promote inclusive development and reduce rural-urban migration.

·         Empower marginalized groups, including SCs, STs, women, and small/marginal farmers.

Key Features of MGNREGS:

1. Rights-Based Framework

·         It legally guarantees wage employment—unique among global public employment programmes.

2. Demand-Driven

·         Employment is provided on demand, not supply-driven.

·         Workers are entitled to unemployment allowance if work is not provided within 15 days.

3. Universal Coverage

·         Available to all rural households without targeting or income criteria.

4. Minimum 100 Days of Work

·         Guarantee of 100 days, with some states offering more from their own budgets.

5. Social Audits

·         Mandatory social audits conducted by Gram Sabhas to ensure transparency.

6. Time-Bound Payments

·         Wages must be paid within 15 days, failing which compensation must be provided.

7. Women Participation

·         At least one-third of beneficiaries must be women; many states achieve >50% participation.

8. Decentralized Planning

·         Planning and implementation via Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats.

Conclusion:

The mass deletions from the MGNREGS database have raised concerns about the potential exclusion of eligible beneficiaries, particularly in rural areas. While the government aims to weed out ineligible beneficiaries, it's essential to ensure that genuine workers are not incorrectly excluded. The government should reconsider its approach and prioritize the rights of rural workers