All registered workers migrated to VB-G RAM G; e-KYC is not mandatory for employment: Centre

The government emphasized that every worker who applied for employment has been offered a job as per the requirement and around 2.11 lakh workers have been offered employment under VB-G RAM G. File so far. | Photo credit: Arun Kulkarni

The Union Ministry of Rural Development on Sunday (August 30, 2026) said that every worker registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), irrespective of whether e-KYC of their job cards has been completed, has been migrated to Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM) (V).

In its statement, the ministry also emphasized that pending e-KYC does not prevent a worker from seeking or accepting employment. The statement was issued in response to a report by The Hindu on Saturday (August 29, 2026) which said that the job cards of 57 million active workers are yet to complete the e-KYC process.

So far, e-KYC has been completed for 15.89 million workers, including 10.27 million out of 10.84 million active workers, which is around 95%. While the government does not dispute the figures given in the Hindu Report, it has said that e-KYC is a database verification measure and not a condition for exercising the statutory right to claim employment under the VB-G RAM G.

“Every worker registered under MGNREGA, irrespective of whether e-KYC has been completed, has been migrated to VB-GRAM G. Pending e-KYC does not prevent a worker from seeking or accepting employment. A suitable exemption mechanism is also in place to facilitate job demand and provision of work for workers whose e-KYC is pending,” the statement said.

The ministry further said that the e-KYC of workers is the responsibility of respective state and union territory governments and is done to strengthen verification and maintain an accurate and trustworthy database of workers. “The process is simple and can routinely be completed in less than 30 seconds,” the statement said.

The government further emphasized that every worker who applied for employment has been offered a job as per the requirement and around 2.11 lakh workers have so far been offered employment under VB-G RAM G. At the same time, the Center has advised the states to expeditiously complete e-KYC of all active workers.

“The Ministry continuously supports and monitors the States/UTs in this exercise while ensuring that no willing worker is deprived of employment merely because e-KYC is pending,” it said.

Published – 30 Aug 2026 21:32 IST