As of January 1, 2023, all locations where the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is being implemented will be required to use digital attendance tracking for all employees.
Digital attendance of MNREGA made universal, to be used at places where scheme is implemented from January 1, 2023
On December 23, the ministry of rural development issued a new directive to all states and union territories. The decree said that, with the exception of “individual beneficiary scheme/project,” it was essential for all work sites to record attendance on the mobile app known as the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), regardless of the number of workers employed.
Ministry of rural development issues directive to all states and union territories on December 23 to make it mandatory for all work sites to register attendance on mobile app – National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS)
Only workplaces with 20 or more employees were previously required to track employee attendance via the app. It was necessary to provide two pictures of employees that were both time-stamped and geotagged. On May 16, 2022, the Center launched this as a pilot operation, citing problems with corruption, accountability, and duplication in muster rolls.
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On May 16, 2022, the Central Government launched a Pilot Project to reduce corruption, duplication, and promote accountability in muster rolls
The pilot project, however, faced significant opposition as a result of complaints from both employees and activists about how it was carried out, including the staff’s lack of smartphone use (such as that of coworkers and supervisors) and a lack of logistical support (such as payment for internet access and poor connectivity). The Center has raised concerns about problems including ghost accounts and actual misuse of funds while working to strengthen the programme across all states.
People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), a group of activists who have supported MGNREGA since 2004, denounced the decision, claiming it would not root out corruption and would instead deter people from seeking employment.
Alarm raised by People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), which claims ministry directive is flawed because the entire NREGS depends on measurement of work
“This instruction is totally erroneous because the entire NREGS is based on work measurement. In the states where it was being implemented, this digital capture is already generating a catastrophe. For instance, in Rajasthan, workers’ salaries are not even half what they should be for the amount of days they have worked since pictures of them arriving at work are not being uploaded due to problems like inadequate internet connectivity. Second, even if they must obtain images, where is the method for keeping track of them? Who will certify the millions of images taken every day? Making it global is an even larger disaster because it already doesn’t work, according to PAEG member Nikhil Dey.
Under MGNREGS, there are around 15 crore active employees. According to the administration, the most recent development should stop any programme leaks and increase transparency. The Center claims that this increases citizen oversight of the programme, may speed up payment processing, and is also anticipated to prevent any bogus worker attendance through false entries in physical registers, ensuring that only real workers on the job are paid and the attendance is recorded in real-time. Additionally, there were worries that the physical register system would be compromised, which could result in the theft of MGNREGS cash.
The MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment programme that provides rural households with 100 days of unskilled employment each year. During the pandemic years, there was an exponential rise in the need for labour. The earnings provided by the programme served as the only source of basic economic security for thousands of people who lost their jobs.
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