Letter to Minister seeks 2021-22 as the base year for Indiramma Atmiya Bharosa scheme

Joint letter requests Telangana government to use 2021-22 as base year for Indiramma Ātmiya Bharosa scheme, highlighting MGNREG issues.

Two non-governmental organisations — Dalit Bahujan Front and LibTech India — have addressed a joint letter to the Minister for Panchayatraj and Rural Development Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka, requesting for the year 2021-22 to be taken as the base year for the implementation of the Indiramma Ātmiya Bharosa scheme of the Telangana government for landless labourers.

Under the scheme, a cash benefit of ₹12,000 per person will be offered to the landless poor, based on the job cards provided as part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. Currently, the eligibility for the scheme is determined using data from the year 2023-24.

The letter pointed this out, and said the year 2021-22 recorded the highest MGNREG person-days in the past four years, during a period of heightened rural economic distress. Many migrant workers who had returned to the villages during the pandemic were from economically vulnerable households, including landless labourers, it noted.

A total of 48.8 lakh workers from 29 lakh households participated in 2021-22, compared to 40.6 lakh workers from 25.3 lakh households in 2023-24, and increased reliance on employment guarantee works showed the vulnerability of the landless households, the letter said.

Besides, a large number of job cards were deleted from MGNREG database in 2022-23, most of which were unjust deletions largely driven by the challenges associated with the Union government’s push for Aadhaar-based payment system. Technical glitches, online verification, documentation issues and administrative lapses accounted for other deletions.

By using 2023-24 data to determine the eligibility, the government is excluding genuine workers and households wrongly deleted, the letter contended. Further, it raised doubts about the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), citing the data from MGNREG website from January 21, 2025 indicated that approximately 34% of workers in Telangana are still ineligible for ABPS. Instead, the workers should be given a choice of the payment method between ABPS and account-based payment system. Exclusively relying on ABPS risks excludes the workers facing Aadhaar-related challenges. Further, the letter also sought cash distribution mechanisms in Adivasi areas where banking infrastructure is inadequate.

Appreciating the extension of the scheme’s benefits to the 156 panchayats which were merged into urban local bodies in 2023-24, the letter signed by Chakradhar Buddha from Libtech India and P. Shankar from Dalit Bahujan Front, sought extension of the coverage to all panchayats that transitioned into municipalities post the formation of Telangana as a separate State, and also the project displaced people from Mallanna Sagar and other projects. Such displaced people should be exempted from the 20-day work participation in MGNREG works giving weightage to their unique vulnerabilities, the letter said.