Nearly 27 lakh workers’ names were deleted from the database of MGNREGA, the Centre’s rural jobs scheme, between October 10 and November 14 this year, far exceeding the 10.5 lakh additions during the same period. The spike in deletions coincides with the Union government’s push to conduct e-KYC — an electronic know your customer process — for all workers, to weed out ineligible beneficiaries.

This “unusual” rate of deletions from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) database was flagged by Lib Tech, a consortium of activists and academicians. Over the last six months, deletions added up to about 15 lakh. But in just one month, they shot up to 27 lakh — nearly double the earlier six-month total.

In the first six months of the financial year 2025-26, accordi

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