The minister made the announcement on Monday in response to a BJP query.

Currently, NREGS payments are mostly made on the spot on basis of muster rolls. The UP government, however, is making the change to stop siphoning of money by administration officials, complaints of which have been rife from most states where the scheme has been launched.

The state government has already announced that the NREGS will now be operational in all districts and the focus will be on Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions, where work will be done round the year.

The move, however, means that the rural poor, at whose benefit the project is aimed, will not receive quick payments.

According to findings from several audits done by NGOs in the state, over 60 per cent of the people still do not have bank accounts.

Surveys say that on an average, barely 25 to 30 per cent of the rural populace in a district have an account. In rural areas of Sitapur district alone, there are barely 15 per cent people who have bank accounts, said Sunil Singh of Rahi Foundation, which is working to create awareness about the NREGS in the district.

“The idea of making payments through cheques is still far-fetched,” he said. Across the state, there will just be 25 to 30 per cent bank accounts in rural areas, he added.

Arundhati Dhuru, advisor to the Supreme Court committee on Right to Food, said the method can be of help only when each and every villager has a bank account.

“It is difficult to give cheques to everyone. Most villagers in the state do not have bank accounts.