Staff Reporter
Guwahati: In the last three financial years, nearly 11.76 lakh job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the eight NE states, including Assam, were deleted or cancelled for various reasons. Among the NE states, Assam had the highest number of job cards deleted, to the tune of 10,15,500.
A job card under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an official document that entitles registered households to apply for work. It's also an identity document for workers.
Implementation of the scheme is the responsibility of the state, and several provisions for proper implementation have been provided in the MGNREGS. Verification of job cards is a regular exercise conducted by the states and UTs. Job cards can be cancelled or deleted after due verification only if they are (i) fake job cards (incorrect job cards), (ii) duplicate job cards, (iii) households not willing to work, (iv) families shifted from Gaon Panchayats permanently, and (v) job cards with a single name of a person, with that person having expired.
According to information available with The Sentinel, Assam has had as many as 10,15,500 job cards deleted between the financial years 2022-23 and 2024-25. The financial year-wise breakup of deleted job cards is as follows: 1,57,138 job cards in FY 2022-23; 2,82,142 in FY 2023-24; and 5,76,220 job cards in FY 2024-25.
After Assam, the second-highest number of job cards deleted is in Arunachal Pradesh, with 37,395 such cards deleted in the last three financial years. The number of job cards deleted in the other NE states: 35,478 in Tripura, 32,388 in Meghalaya, 19,039 in Mizoram, 15,326 in Manipur, 15,286 in Nagaland and 5,511 in Sikkim.
Moreover, in the last three fiscal years, a total of 10,83,127 job cards were issued in Assam.
Also Read: Assam: Nearly 6.5 Lakh MGNREGS Job Cards Deleted in State