New Delhi: A new feature introduced by the Ministry of Rural Development to improve transparency in the online attendance system of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is posing problems for workers, as they are required to travel back daily to the spot where they started work initially to mark their attendance.
Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have now flagged their concerns over this new feature to the ministry, ThePrint has learnt.
Under the geo-fencing (a virtual perimeter of an area) feature that was introduced last month in the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), MGNREGS workers are required to mark their daily attendance from within a 10-metre radius of a spot at a worksite which was geo-tagged before commencement of the work or project. The workers have to be present at this particular spot, which has been geo-tagged in the NMMS application by officials, to mark their attendance before they begin work.
All worksites are geo-tagged thrice — before commencement of work, during the work phase and at the end of the project — under which the latitude and longitude of a spot at the worksite along with its photograph is uploaded on the portal.
For online attendance of workers, two geo-tagged time-stamped photographs of workers are taken in a day within a gap of four hours — at the start of the day’s work and after four hours — at the worksite. Attendance is taken at the same location in the worksite that was geo-tagged at the start of work.
In case the workers are not at the geo-tagged location or within 10 metres of it, the mobile application will not capture the digital image of the workers. Till last month, the time-stamped photographs of workers could be taken anywhere at the worksite.
The new feature is now posing problems for workers, especially those involved in linear development projects such as plantation along roads, the repair and maintenance of canals or projects spread over a large area, to mark their attendance, senior officials with Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments told ThePrint.
A senior Karnataka government official told ThePrint, “Workers involved in linear projects have to walk back, sometimes long distances, to the geo-tagged sites daily to mark their attendance. Road or canal repair projects are spread over 2-5 km or sometimes more. There are some projects, which are spread over large areas. Currently, we are making workers go back to the geo-tagged spot daily. But it is not practical.”
Ajay Gulhane, MGNREGS commissioner, Maharashtra government told ThePrint that attendance is now taken at the end of the day, at the same location at the worksite that was geo-tagged at the start of the work. “The gram rojgar sevaks or mates (responsible for marking attendance of workers) can mark the attendance only from within 10 meters of the worksite under the new system,” he said.
The NMMS was introduced in May 2021, but was made mandatory only in January last year, though some relaxations were made later on to capture attendance of workers.
However, Aditi Singh, director (rural employment), at the rural development ministry told ThePrint in a written response that “this measure helps improve transparency in capturing attendance”.
She said that the new feature to capture attendance was introduced after pilot testing at three worksites in Haryana’s Panipat district on 19 January.
A senior official with Andhra Pradesh government said, “We have raised our concern with the rural development ministry in this regard. It is not possible for workers to walk to the original geo-tagged location twice a day. There should be different criteria to validate attendance based on the type of work, especially in projects which are spread over a large area.”
Even in Haryana, MGNREGS mates have to take the workers to the geo-tagged location for attendance, said a senior official in the rural development department.
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‘Another way of harassing MNREGA workers’
The introduction of the new feature, activists working with MGNREGA workers say, is just another way of harassing workers. They also question the way the ministry is introducing new measures in the NMMS.
Social activist Nikhil Dey, co-founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), told ThePrint, “The NMMS continues to be a nightmare for workers and every additional layer just demonstrates the insensitivity of the official machinery that refuses to understand the pain and exclusion caused to genuine workers.”
Dey added, “Geo-fencing itself has many logical challenges which have neither been discussed with workers nor have pilots been placed in the public domain based on which this measure has been implemented.”
The activist said that the government should explain what action has been taken by officials based on the wrongdoing identified through NMMS.
‘Implemented after three pilots’
The ministry said that the new feature was introduced after carrying out pilots at three worksites in Haryana’s Panipat district.
“Attendance of workers at the worksite can only be recorded if the location of the mobile device is within a distance of 10 meters from the geographical coordinates of the worksite, as captured in Stage-I under GeoMGNREGA. This feature was implemented only after successful pilot testing at all worksites by the visiting team of the Ministry, and after receiving acceptance from all States/UTs,” said Aditi Singh, director (rural employment), quoted earlier.
She added, “The implementation of the scheme is the responsibility of the state governments. However, handholding support is being provided to all States/UTs at any time for any issues related to NMMS. The ministry may schedule further discussions with stakeholders if needed.”
‘Modifications needed to address the issue’
Though the actual impact on the online attendance of workers is yet to be assessed by the four states ThePrint spoke to (Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka), state governments’ officials said some modifications have to be made to address issues faced in linear projects or network connectivity issues.
The Kerala government’s Local Self Government Department has been receiving complaints regarding the new provision ever since it was introduced. A second senior official said, “In some cases, exemptions are being given where the geo-tagged location is far away from the site where the work is going on.”
The matter was discussed during a meeting of the State Employment Guarantee Council (SEGC), set up by the Kerala government under the MGNREGA Act to advise the state government on the implementation of the scheme, said the official. The state is planning to write to the rural development ministry in this regard.
“Some modifications have to be made in the new provision so that workers don’t have to walk back to the original location just for attendance. There are also network connectivity issues in some places. As the attendance can be taken only within a 10-mt radius of the geo-tagged site, there are network issues at the spot due to which attendance can’t be taken. We are planning to write to the Centre in this regard,” said the first official.
State officials say that the 10-mt rule needs to be relooked at or some provision should be made for large work sites. “In linear projects or big land development projects, a different rule to validate attendance is needed. But till the time the rule is not amended, we have asked mates to take workers at the original geo-tagged spot,” said a senior Haryana government official.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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