MGNREGS mobile monitoring being fudged, govt tells states
NEW DELHI: The ministry of rural development (MoRD) has asked states to take immediate corrective action and bolster monitoring of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) for MGNREGA, saying that several instances have come to its notice about the system for capturing daily attendance and work site photographs being 'misused or manipulated'.
The ministry has also asked states and UTs to identify users and officials responsible for the 'misuse or deliberate manipulation' of NMMS and take strict disciplinary action against them.
In the communication dated July 8, the ministry said that 'such serious discrepancies undermine the credibility of the digital attendance system and may lead to potential misuse of public funds'. The discrepancies include upload of irrelevant or unrelated photographs, photo-to-photo capturing instead of live work images, and the same photo of workers being on multiple muster rolls.
'These irregularities raise significant concerns regarding the lack of monitoring and accountability at the state, district and block levels, which is affecting the integrity of the implementation process and may lead to financial irregularities and potential corruption. Thus, the purpose of NMMS in Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is really at stake,' the note from MGNREGA division of the department of rural development stated.
To check the irregularities, MoRD has listed measures the states have to implement. These include a manual verification process to begin with, setting a target number of photos to be verified at the gram panchayat, block, district and state levels. The states have to submit verification reports to the ministry and also set up NMMS monitoring cells.
Meanwhile, Congress has lashed out at the Modi govt over the issue, with party general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh pointing out in a statement that Congress had been highlighting its operational problems since the NMMS app was introduced in May 2022. The party has demanded the 'immediate withdrawal of the unworkable and counterproductive NMMS model based on photo uploads and reaffirmation of task-based payments, which is the essence of MGNREGA'.
Citing the July 8 note, Ramesh said the MoRD has 'finally acknowledged various problems associated with NMMS'.
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