Nmms nrega

What the article is about? • Talks about the recently launched NMMS and concerns associated with it. Syllabus: GS-II Government Schemes and interventions; NREGA NMMS • In May 2021, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) launched the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app, a new application meant for “improving citizen oversight and increasing transparency” in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) works. • It is to be deployed by NREGA Mates, local women at the panchayat level who are selected and trained to monitor NREGA worksites. • The main feature of the app is the real-time, photographed, geo-tagged attendance of every worker to be taken once in each half of the day. Concerns: • In most States, NREGA wages are calculated based on the amount of work done each day, and workers do not need to commit to fixed hours. • This flexibility has been key to NREGA’s widespread demand. However, marking attendance on the app mandates that workers are at the worksite the entire day. This causes significant difficulty for NREGA workers. • NREGA has historically had a higher proportion of women workers (54.7% in FY 2021-22) and has been pivotal in changing working conditions for women in rural areas. • Due to the traditional burden of household chores and care work on women, the app is likely to disproportionately affect women workers. • The conditions for registering NREGA attendance on the app put them in a dilemma where they may end up foregoing NREGA work. • A stable ...

India is rapidly digitising. There are good things and bad, speed-bumps on the way and caveats to be mindful of. The weekly column Terminal focuses on all that is connected and is not – on digital issues, policy, ideas and themes dominating the conversation in India and the world. At Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, NREGA workers are on an indefinite protest. A major reason behind their agitation is the use of the new National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) App, which has become mandatory for “attendance” for the workers since January 1. All NREGA workers are required to upload two geo-tagged photos every day on this app. Failure to upload the photos and mark attendance means they will not be paid that day. A decade after Aadhaar, the government is once again introducing a new system to “fix welfare” and “weed out corruption” – but with no tangible progress. Software has been always touted as a solution to fix things but has created more problems. There is no evidence of how Aadhaar has weeded out duplicate beneficiaries. In fact, numerous cases show that it has Now, the NMMS app has become another barrier – clearly disrupting the existing setup of attendance and work management under NREGA. The tyranny of the app is that it determines whether workers are paid for their work or perform free labour for the government. There is no reason to believe this application will stop corruption, the same way Aadhaar did not address fraud. In fact, digitisation has made all welfare deli...