Centre willing, NREGP payment via mobile banking in Chhattisgarh

If the Union government approves the proposal of the Chhattisgarh government, people working under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in the interior areas of the state will stand to get the payment through mobile banking.

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, members expressed concern over the delay in disbursing payment to the NREGP workers in the state. They suggested that the compulsion of drawing payment through the banks and post office should be removed to ease the payment process. “In the interior areas, people are facing problem to open account while in the tribal-dominated pockets including the Naxalite-infested areas, one will not find a post-office or bank within 10 km areas,” senior Congress legislator Nandkumar Patel said while raising the issue in the House.

Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said the mobile banking system had been a great success and he had experimented the same in his Assembly constituency of Marwahi in Bilaspur district. “With the help of banks, mobile banks could be sent to the villages to help the NREGP cardholders to get the payment,” Jogi said, adding that the model should be implemented in the entire state.

State's Panchayat Minister Ramvichar Netam told Business Standard that the proposal was good and the state government would discuss it with the Union government. "If the Centre approves, the state government will introduce the system of mobile banking in the interior areas of the state," he added.

According to Netam, the Centre was exploring the possibilities of payment through e-banking for the villagers staying in the interior areas. "We will inform the Union government about the difficulties faced in the interior areas specially the Naxalite-hit pockets and request to use the modern banking systems for NREGP payments," the minister said.