‘Thousands of works under MGNREGA executed across J&K’

New Delhi, Mar 24: The Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday that thousands of works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are being executed across Jammu and Kashmir, with substantial expenditure recorded during the ongoing and previous financial years.
Replying to an unstarred question, Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan said that in Jammu and Kashmir, a total of 1,81,828 works were completed in 2024-25 with an expenditure of Rs 33,058.18 lakh, while 3,89,873 works remained ongoing involving Rs 92,209.66 lakh.
For the current financial year 2025-26 (till March 20, 2026), the House was informed that 46,178 works have been completed with an expenditure of Rs 7,361.56 lakh, while 4,80,135 works are ongoing with an outlay of Rs 1,25,056.86 lakh.
The minister further stated that in Nowshera block of Rajouri district, 655 works were completed during 2024-25, while 2,032 works remained ongoing. In 2025-26 so far, 229 works have been completed, and 2,873 works are under execution, reflecting continued implementation of the scheme at the grassroots level.
He said that MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme aimed at providing at least 100 days of guaranteed work to rural households, leading to the creation of durable community assets.
Regarding fund flow, the government informed that material component funds are released to the Union Territory through the SNA-SPARSH system, and subsequently disbursed to districts by the UT administration. The Centre does not directly release funds to blocks or districts.
As per the data, Rs 190.68 crore were released for the material component in 2024-25, while Rs 125.30 crore have been released so far in 2025-26.
The minister added that implementation of the scheme lies with the respective State and UT governments, which are responsible for execution and timely payment of liabilities. (KNO)