News Highlights
People’s Action For Employment Guarantee (PAEG) criticized the the implementation of National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
About Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005
- MGNREGA is an Indian legislation enacted on August 25, 2005.
- The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
- Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD)
- Key features of MGNREGA
- MGNREGA guarantees hundred days of wage employment in a financial year, to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
- Individual beneficiary oriented works can be taken up on the cards of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, small or marginal farmers or beneficiaries of land reforms or beneficiaries under the Indira Awaas Yojana of the Government of India.
- Within 15 days of submitting the application or from the day work is demanded, wage employment will be provided to the applicant.
- Right to get unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within fifteen days of submitting the application or from the date when work is sought.
- Receipt of wages within fifteen days of work done.
- Variety of permissible works which can be taken up by the Gram Panchayaths.
- MGNREGA focuses on the economic and social empowerment of women.
- MGNREGA provides “Green” and “Decent” work.
- Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory, which lends to accountability and transparency.
- MGNREGA works address the climate change vulnerability and protect the farmers from such risks and conserve natural resources.
- The Gram Sabha is the principal forum for wage seekers to raise their voices and make demands. It is the Gram Sabha and the Gram Panchayat which approves the shelf of works under MGNREGA and fix their priority.
About National Mobile Monitoring Software
- The Ministry of Rural Development had started the exercise on a pilot basis on May 21 last year.
- Initially, the utilisation of application was to be voluntary
- From May 16 this year, it has been made mandatory.
Benefits of NMMS app
- It brings more transparency and ensures proper monitoring of the schemes.
- The NMMS App permits taking real time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksites along with geo-tagged photographs.
- The app helps in increasing citizen oversight of the program besides potentially enabling processing payments faster.
Current Issue with the app based attendance
- Technical Issue
- The speed of the application and the strength of the server creates troubles.
- Workers were not able to upload the attendance which makes them anxious because the wages are directly connected to attendance
- No clear solution to offer in case the app doesn’t work or fails to upload a photograph.
- Workers are inaccessible to smartphones due to less income.
- Legal Issue
- Section 15 – Schedule 1 that lays down rules about the muster rolls clearly says that the muster roll must be accessible to the workers on demand all days during all working hours. If the muster roll is available only digitally, access will be limited.
- The app specifies that it is mandatory for workers to upload two time stamped photos within a predetermined time window designed by the app. “This is in direct contravention of Section 3 of the Act which clearly states that workers are entitled to their wages on the basis of work completed by them that is on a piece rate basis,” the letter states.
- Issue on Labour
- The app discourages women from being mates which fundamentally undermines the Ministry’s own repeated push towards encouraging women workers as MNREGA mates.
- Language Barrier
- The app has been designed completely in English and there is no technical help provided to redress problems.
- In case of a glitch, the workers who come to sites are told to go back, since attendance cannot be registered
Pic Courtesy : The Hindu
Content Source : The Hindu