In a significant crackdown on irregularities, Punjab has emerged as the leading state in North India for identifying and cancelling fake or duplicate job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). This cleanup drive has unfolded over the past six years, even as the central government prepares to overhaul the flagship rural jobs program.
Punjab's Overwhelming Share in Regional Cleanup
Official data presented in the Lok Sabha reveals a stark contrast between the actions of three neighbouring states. Punjab alone is responsible for cancelling a staggering 5,27,728 job cards between the financial years 2019-20 and 2024-25. This figure dwarfs the numbers from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, which deleted 60,629 and 55,126 cards, respectively, during the same period.
When combined, the three states reported the deletion of 6,43,483 job cards. Punjab's contribution constitutes a massive 82% of the total cancellations in the region, highlighting the scale of its verification and removal process.
The National Picture and Recent Actions
The scale of the cleanup is nationwide. Across India, a total of 4.58 crore (4,57,96,543) job cards were deleted in the corresponding six-year period. This reflects a concerted effort by states and union territories to purge the system of ineligible, duplicate, or non-genuine beneficiaries.
The corrective action has continued into the current financial year. Between October 10, 2025, and November 14, 2025, Punjab deleted 16,898 workers from the MGNREGS rolls. Himachal Pradesh reported the removal of 9,877 workers in this short period, while Haryana deleted 309 workers.
Separate data focusing on the deletion of individual workers (as opposed to entire job cards) from 2019-20 to 2023-24 further cements Punjab's dominant role. In those five years, Punjab removed 9,22,378 workers, compared to 2,54,325 in Himachal Pradesh and 98,719 in Haryana.
Reasons and Safeguards in the Deletion Process
The Union Ministry of Rural Development has clarified that MGNREGS is a demand-driven scheme, with implementation responsibility lying with state and UT governments. The ministry stated that updating and deleting job cards is a regular exercise.
Job cards are primarily cancelled for several reasons:
- Fake, duplicate, or incorrect entries.
- Families permanently moving out of a gram panchayat.
- Reclassification of a gram panchayat as urban area.
- Cases where the sole member listed on a job card has died.
The ministry emphasized that states must ensure strict compliance with the Act and its standard operating procedure during deletions to prevent the wrongful cancellation of any eligible household's job card.
Push for Transparency via Tech
To bolster transparency and accountability, the ministry has mandated the use of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app at worksites. Since January 1, 2023, for all works except individual beneficiary projects, two time-stamped and geo-tagged photographs of workers must be captured daily via the app. This measure aims to ensure genuine attendance and curb malpractice.
The extensive data from Punjab suggests a rigorous, ongoing audit of its MGNREGS beneficiary list, setting a precedent for administrative vigilance in the region's implementation of the social welfare scheme.
