The advent of ‘app-solute’ chaos in NREGA

News: In 2021, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) launched the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app. It was aimed at “improving citizen oversight and increasing transparency” in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) works.

Objectives of the app

It would ensure proper monitoring of the schemes with the purpose of increasing “citizen oversight” or transparency in the implementation of the scheme. In addition to this, it will potentially enable processing payments faster.

What are the main feature of the app?

It is to be used by the NREGA Mates, local women at the panchayat level who are selected, trained and deployed to monitor NREGA worksites.

It would ensure monitoring the attendance of workers through real-time, photographed, geo-tagged attendance. The attendance will be taken once in each half of the day.

The MORD made it mandatory for all NREGA worksites to employ more than 20 workers. The workers have no option for manual attendance other than in exceptional circumstances.

Benefits

It would address the corruption which has been a rising problem in NREGA as the funds are being siphoned off by faking attendance records.

What are the issues with the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app?

It can monitor the attendance of workers who have fixed work timings, which is found only in some states. However, in most states, NREGA wages are calculated based on the amount of work done each day. Workers do not need to commit to fixed hours.

NREGA app mandates marking attendance for the workers who are at the worksite the entire day. It will cause significant difficulty for NREGA workers who may finish her/his work early, and go to take care of other work for the remaining day, say tea stall or home chores.

It mandates the worker to be present at the worksite all day or travel twice to mark her attendance.

It will create hurdles for women. They will have to choose between their traditional burden of household chores and care work and NREGA work. Around 54.7% of the NREGA workers were women workers in FY 2021-22. It will decrease their participation.

Implementation challenges

There is a lack of a stable network in rural India. Thus, many workers won’t be able to mark their attendance, and would lose a day of wages. For example, Kerala and Jharkhand recorded such cases.

The differently-abled NREGA workers may find it difficult to mark attendance. For example, it was experienced in Tamil Nadu.

While selecting NREGA mates, smartphone-owning men are likely to be given preference over women having no smartphone. It is mandatory for the NREGA Mates to have a smartphone. For example, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh have seen such cases.

The training to use the app has been inadequately given to the mates. This could lead to errors in recording workers’ attendance, which ultimately results in delayed or non-payments.

The intended purpose of such an application and its effectiveness remains unclear. There would be no physical attendance records, and workers have no proof of their attendance and work done. For example, In the West Singhbhum District, Jharkhand, workers could not establish their attendance and work done since there was no physical record as evidence.

The MORD has neither provided much clarity on the magnitude of the corruption in NREGA nor the manner in which the NMMS addresses it. There are no parameters to assess the app’s performance, either on transparency or on quicker processed payments.

The NMMS is consequently blind to the actual functioning of NREGA on the ground.

The Way Forward

Instead of focusing on this app or introducing other complex technological reforms, the government should strengthen social audits, which have worked well in the past.

Source: The post is based on an article “The advent of ‘app-solute’ chaos in NREGA” published in the “The Hindu” on 25^th June 2022.