The advent of ‘app-solute’ chaos in NREGA under the guise of transparency

CategorySocial

Last Updated03/01/2023

Digitally capturing the attendance of workers employed under the MGREGS has been made universal by the Centre from January 1, 2023.
The Centre in May 2021, had started a pilot project to capture attendance via a mobile application, the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS).

Launched in: May 2021
Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)
Aim: for “improving citizen oversight and increasing transparency” in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) works.
Features: real-time, photographed, geo-tagged attendance of every worker to be taken once in each half of the day.

Mandates that workers are at worksite the entire day: sometimes workers do not need to commit to fixed hours but marking attendance on the app mandates so causing difficulty for NREGA workers.
Would disproportionately affect women workers: registering NREGA attendance on app puts women in a dilemma where they may end up foregoing NREGA work.
Issue of a stable network: could lead to workers not being able to mark their attendance, and consequently lose a day of wages.
Problems faced by differently-abled NREGA workers: in marking their attendance on the app.
Adverse impact on NREGA Mates: now, to be a Mate, one needs to have a smartphone which disqualifies women not having smartphones from becoming Mates.
Women becoming proxy Mates: officially registered, but deferring to men who work and get paid.
Mates not been given proper training in using the app: could cause errors in recording workers’ attendance, that ultimately results in delayed or non-payments.
Errors in pilot process: implementation errors had been evident throughout the pilot process but no information available publicly about the errors found and measures taken to address them.
No physical records: With no physical attendance records signed by workers, workers have no proof of their attendance - eroding transparency & citizen oversight the app claims to improve.
No parameters established to assess the app’s performance: either on transparency, or on quicker processed payments.

Strengthening social audits: citizen-centric institutions, where the citizens of the panchayat have a direct role and say in how NREGA functions in their panchayat.
Introducing technological reforms: which are easier to understand and fundamentally inaccessible for workers.
Proper consultation and discussion with stakeholders: like MGNREGA functionaries, or government field officials before bringing in any innovation.