Several workers enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have complained about glitches following the latest update to the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), the mobile application used to record their attendance.
From March 1, the government has made facial recognition mandatory for marking attendance, but several workers say the new feature is not functioning properly, making it difficult for them to register their presence.
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The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) shared videos on social media showing MGNREGS workers in parts of Rajasthan struggling to mark attendance. Women workers complained that they were unable to download the muster rolls, while in other locations, the facial recognition system allegedly failed to authenticate users. They also said attempts to reach district and State officials had yielded no response.
MKSS leader Nikhil Dey, one of the key authors of MGNREGA, questioned the efficacy of the NMMS. “In the two years since it became operational, no review has been held to assess how effective this system has been in curbing corruption. Creating technological barriers for workers hardly helps advance the government’s stated objective. Instead, the engineers who are supposed to supervise these sites should be held accountable for malpractices,” Mr. Dey said.
