691,112 job card holders under MGNREGA across Tripura: Chief Minister
Agartala, Mar 25, 2025, By Our Correspondent
Agartala: Mar 25: On the third day of the Legislative Assembly session, Chief Minister and Minister of Rural Development, Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha, addressed a question raised by the opposition regarding the status of the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme in Tripura. The Chief Minister provided a detailed breakdown of the scheme's current implementation in the state.
Dr. Saha informed the Assembly that there are currently 691,112 job card holders under MGNREGA across Tripura. He also provided a district-wise distribution of job card holders:
- Dhalai: 97,197
- Gomati: 101,208
- Khowai: 74,969
- North Tripura: 81,539
- Sepahijala: 85,638
- South Tripura: 97,826
- Unakoti: 58,420
- West Tripura: 94,560
The Chief Minister further explained that the central government does not allocate budgets based on average labor days for any state. For the 2023-24 financial year, Tripura was allocated a budget for 37.5 million labor days, and for 2024-25, the allocation was reduced to 30 million labor days. However, by February 15, 2025, the state had already generated 34 million labor days, prompting the government to request an increase in the allocation for the current year.
The Chief Minister highlighted that, in the 2023-24 financial year, the state achieved an average of 61 labor days per card, while in 2024-25, the average was 58 labor days. Wages under the scheme are directly transferred to workers’ bank accounts, and ₹756.73 crore has been disbursed to approximately 800,000 workers. However, ₹87.26 crore for around 67,000 workers is still pending approval from the central government, with expectations for resolution by April 2025.
The MGNREGA scheme is demand-driven, with workers guaranteed employment within 15 days. This year, 58,502 families have completed 100 or more days of work, and new job cards are being issued to ensure no worker remains unemployed.