New Delhi: As many as 42,82,945 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) job cards from Odisha were among the 4,43,04,661 that have been deleted since 2019-20 fiscal, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan told the Rajya Sabha, Friday. “Verification of job cards is a regular exercise conducted by the states/Union Territories.
Job cards can be cancelled/deleted after due verification only if it is a fake job card (incorrect job card); duplicate job card; households not willing to work; family shifted from gram panchayat permanently; and single person in job card and that person has expired,” Paswan said. Of the total, 22,24,982 job cards were deleted in 2024-25 till July 30 this year. The minister said 1,02,71,048 job cards were deleted in 2023-24, 2,25,38,538 in 2022- 23 and 50,39,649 in 2021-22. Job card deletions stood at 27,97,013 in 2020-21 and 14,33,431 in 2019-20. Among the states, 99,26,063 job cards were deleted in Bihar, 91,42,876 in Uttar Pradesh, 42,82,945 in Odisha, 24,05,859 in West Bengal, 37,74,160 in Madhya Pradesh, 35,54,193 in Andhra Pradesh and 17,93,357 in Jharkhand since 2019-20. According to the ministry website, 14.23 crore job cards have been issued under MGNREGS, covering 24.77 crore workers. Of these, 9.1 crore job cards are active, covering 13.11 crore workers.