New Delhi:  More than five crore job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) were cancelled in 2022-23, 247 per cent more than the number of deletions in 2021-22, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.  

In a written reply, Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh said in 2021-22, 1,49,51,247 MGNREGA job cards were deleted, while in 2022-23, 5,18,91,168 job cards were cancelled.  West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were among the states which saw the highest number of deletions.  In 2021-22, 1,57,309 job cards were deleted in West Bengal, while in the following year (2022-23), the number shot up by over 5,000 per cent as 83,36,115 job cards were deleted.

In Andhra Pradesh, 6,25,514 job cards were deleted in 2021-22, which increased by 1,147 per cent in 2022-23, when 78,05,569 cards were cancelled.  

Similarly, in Telangana, 61,278 job cards were deleted in 2021-22, while 17,32,936 cards were deleted in 2022-23, an increase of 2,727 per cent.

Gujarat deleted 1,43,202 job cards in 2021-22 and 4,30,404 in 2022-23, a jump of over 200 per cent.  

In his reply, Singh said the deletions were made due to reasons like “fake” job cards, duplicate job cards, people not willing to work anymore, family shifted from Gram Panchayat permanently, or person’s death.  

Asked if the government has any plan to alter the spirals in deletions, Singh said, “Updation of job cards is a regular exercise conducted by the States/UTs.” He also said implementation of the scheme is responsibility of state governments.