BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to shed the dubious distinction of having the third highest fake job cards in the country after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the state government has given MGNREGS cardholders three months time to complete their e-KYC verification.
The move has come after Union minister of state for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan in a reply in the Lok Sabha, revealed that Odisha has deleted over 1.44 lakh fake job cards in the last three years. State Panchayati Raj and Rural Development minister Rabi Narayan Naik, however, described the presence of fake cards as a legacy issue inherited from the previous BJD government.
“In the last one year, we have issued around 2 lakh job cards to genuine beneficiaries who were previously left out. Our government is committed to transparency and accountability. Misuse of public money will not be tolerated,” Naik said.
He also said the government has been proactive in ensuring that all eligible individuals are covered under welfare schemes such as ration cards, PMAY, PM-Kisan, CM Kisan, and Subhadra Yojana. The e-KYC process, he said, will help weed out ghost entries and ineligible people who have obtained job cards to avail other government benefits.
According to official data, the state has issued 66.5 lakh job cards to 1.09 crore people, of which 43.19 lakh cards are currently active. The number of active workers stands at 65.53 lakh.
In his reply in the Parliament, the Union minister said that Odisha deleted 1,14,454 fake job cards in 2022-23, 22,226 cards in 2023-24, and 7,566 cards in 2024-25.
“Since the responsibility for implementing MGNREGS lies with the state governments, it is up to them to take appropriate action in cases of irregularities. This may include investigations and legal action, depending on the severity of the issue,” Paswan stated.
The mandatory e-KYC for job cards comes after a similar verification exercise was undertaken to identify and remove ghost and ineligible ration cards from circulation across the state.