Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) all wage payments are to be made through accounts in the Banks or Post Offices, as per the information received from the Ministry of Rural Development. As per Paragraph 30 of the revised Schedule II, notified recently under the MGNREG Act 2005, the payment of wages shall be made only through the accounts in the banks or post offices, unless specifically exempted.

Nearly 74.38 lakh accounts have been opened in the cooperative banks for disbursement of wages. MoRD has informed that and there is no provision for any additional compensation to these institutions, for disbursement of wages under MNREGS.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Wage payment channel requirement under MGNREGS mandates bank or post office accounts for disbursing wages, with limited exemptions. Payment of wages under MGNREGS must be routed through accounts in banks or post offices under the revised Schedule II provision, subject only to specified exemptions. Cooperative banks have opened accounts to facilitate these disbursements, and there is no provision for additional compensation to those banks for carrying out wage disbursement functions under the scheme.