Contract-based personnel under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) have gone without salaries for nearly six months, triggering severe financial hardship and a statewide work stoppage.
The crisis began after the central government introduced a new payment software platform, ‘Sparsh’, in December 2024 to process salaries by linking treasury systems with the MGNREGA website under the SNA Sparsh framework. However, a persistent technical incompatibility between the two systems in Karnataka has left thousands unpaid, even though funds were already sanctioned by the Centre.
In Udupi, around 40 workers are affected, while Dakshina Kannada has approximately 65 impacted staff. Across Karnataka, nearly 3,500 employees—including ADPCs, DMIS, technical coordinators, data entry operators, Gram Kayaka Mitras, and others at district and taluk levels—are grappling with the disruption.
Repeated appeals to district administrations and state officials have yielded no resolution. With no alternative, the Karnataka NREGA Employees Welfare Association has launched a non-cooperation protest, vowing not to resume duties until arrears are cleared.
This collective action has paralyzed NREGA operations statewide. Both household-level and community-based development works have ground to a halt due to the absence of essential staff support. In undivided Dakshina Kannada and other districts, project implementation has completely stopped.
Adding to workers’ frustration, reports indicate that staff at the central NREGA office in Bengaluru received salaries under the previous system. Protesters are now demanding the government restore the old payment method until Sparsh functions properly.