From next year, the payment to MGNREGS workers and labourers will also be done through Post Payments banks.

Tribune News Service, Ludhiana, October 16

With the opening of Post Payments Bank at the post offices next year, the payment to MGNREGS workers and labourers will also be done through these banks.

According to information, India Post Payments Bank, which is expected to become operational by next year, will be used for the payments of some schemes run by the Central Government, including payments to MGNREGS workers.

It would be a great relief to MGNREGS workers in particular, because being a rural employment guarantee scheme, MGNREGS beneficiaries of the scheme are in villages, but the penetration of the post offices is deeper in villages than banking sector. So, MGNREGS workers will be able to collect the payments from nearby post offices instead of having to visit banks, said one of the officials in the Postal Department.

Deepinder Singh, a Gram Rozgar Sewak under MGNREGS, said if the payment was done through post offices, it would help the labourers. “It is a promising move, but the direct payment for different schemes must also be clearly earmarked to prevent any confusion in the minds of the labourers,” he said.

Satwant Kaur, one of the MGNREGS labourers in Khedi village, said the nearer she could collect the payments, the better it was for all MGNREGS workers. “It gets difficult to visit far off villages to get the payments in old age. If money is paid through post offices, it would be a great help,” she added.