The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) threw a veritable grenade at MGNREGA on 30 January 2023, when it made the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS) compulsory for MGNREGA wage payments from 1 February – just two days later. At that time, a little over 40% of all MGNREGA workers were “eligible for ABPS” according to the Ministry’s own data (MIS Report R1.1.9). Thus, from 1 February a majority of MGNREGA workers became “unpayable”.