Rajasthan to file case if photos of NREG worker numbers not same in records

The “Guidelines for effective implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Scheme” circulated on October 25 this year asked the collectors to find out the actual reasons for the discrepancy. “…action should be taken to blacklist the mate and register a criminal case against the mate. Action should be taken as per rules against the responsible personnel of the Gram Panchayat for negligence in supervision,” said the directions issued by the state’s Rural Development Secretary Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar.

An email to Pednekar seeking response on the new guidelines did not elicit a response. When contacted, an official in the Union Ministry of Rural Development said, “The National Mobile Monitoring System app is used to record attendance of MGNREGA workers and is aimed at increasing transparency and proper monitoring of the scheme. It enables capturing of attendance of workers along with geo-tagged photographs twice a day.” The official further said that Section 23 (3) of the Act mentions that a state government may, by rules, determine the arrangements to be made for proper execution of the scheme  to ensure transparency and roll, new rules in Rajasthan call for filing criminal cases accountability at all levels.

The new rules are, however, seen as flawed by organisations working on the ground. “Unfortunately, through the NMMS, the central government has introduced a flawed system requiring photographic evidence of workers’ presence at the work site, as the main accountability measure. In fact, the NMMS absolves the mate of responsibility for ‘fraudulent attendance’ because uploading the photo has been made proof of attendance and work,” said Nikhil Dey, Founder-Member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.

“In MGNREGA, what matters is work output, and therefore, if criminal action has to be taken, it should be taken against government officials such as engineers who are responsible for filling measurement books, based on which MGNREGA payments are made. Without their fraudulent entries, there can be no fraud. In this order, they are to be charged with action under section 25 of the MGNREGA with a minor punishment of a Rs 1,000 fine,” Dey said.

The October 25 directions make it mandatory for the administration to record daily attendance of labour at the worksite by the mate. “Attendance marked through NMMS (National Mobile Monitoring System) and the uploaded photos should be regularly checked by the MIS manager at the block level every day. So that the wrong uploading of photos by the mate can be stopped,” the guidelines said. One of the personnel posted at the district and block level must check the attendance marked on the muster roll and photographs uploaded on the NMMS, it said.

While Section 25 of the NREG Act provides for levying penalty for non-compliance, the law doesn’t provide for registering criminal cases. “Whoever contravenes the provisions of this Act shall on conviction be liable to a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees,” states Section 25.

In the current financial year till November 8, as many as 64.92 lakh persons availed work under NREGS. While four months and three weeks remain for the year to pass, the numbers so far have touched almost 75 per cent of the total 86.97 lakh persons who availed work under the scheme in 2023-24.

During the first two fortnights of October, 99.62 per cent and 96.75 per cent attendance has been captured through the use of the NMMS app in Rajasthan, according to an official in the Union Rural Development Ministry.