SRINAGAR: Union Minister of Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Jammu and Kashmir has pending Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) amounting to Rs 3,610.19 lakh under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the current year.
The Union Ministry stated that MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment scheme. Under this scheme, States and Union Territories (UTs) submit fund proposals to the Government of India, the Minister said, as per the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
“The Ministry releases funds periodically in two tranches, with each tranche consisting of one or more instalments. This is done keeping in view the agreed labour budget, demand for works, opening balance, pace of fund utilisation, pending liabilities, overall performance, and submission of relevant documents by the States/UTs,” he explained.
The Minister further noted that the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) has been mandatory since 1 January 2024 to ensure faster, safer, and timely wage disbursement to beneficiaries under MGNREGS. Additionally, real-time attendance is being captured through the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), he added—(KNO).
