Centre extends deadline till Dec 31 for enabling Aadhaar-based payment for MGNREGA workers

NEW DELHI: The government has again deferred the plan to make the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) compulsory for settling wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Wage payments through both the ABPS and the usual electronic payment through the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) will now continue until December 31 or until further orders, the rural development ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the ministry had issued a directive for switching fully to the ABPS from February 1.


The move had evoked protests by activists and workers, many of whom claimed that workers were being deprived of payments due to technical glitches. Subsequently, the ministry allowed extensions of the deadline to give more time to stakeholders to adopt the new wage payment method.