Chadayamangalam has become the first block panchayat in the State to adopt Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mapping of all 32,427 existing workers has been completed and their wage payments will be now made through the system.
As per Central government guidelines, wages can be paid to workers only through the ABPS. If any one worker does not switch to it, the wage distribution of all workers engaged in that work will be affected. Since non-compliance can also lead to difficulty in securing employment, the local body had taken steps to solve the problem.
“Technical issues involved in the process had been a huge challenge for MGNREGS beneficiaries. The achievement was made possible through a systematic intervention,” said block panchayat president Lathika Vidyadharan.
Awareness sessions were held for workers from all eight panchayats coming under the block in the initial phase. Site visits were held for the purpose, while banks too cooperated with the panchayat authorities in completing the procedures.
“Engineers from all the local bodies were involved in the process. They went to the sites and spoke to workers to identify the issues and solve them,” said Ms. Vidyadharan. She added that it was a joint effort in which officials of all local bodies, block programme officer, joint BDO, MGNREGS mates and workers worked together.
In order to switch to the ABPS, the worker’s job card and bank account should be linked with Aadhaar to use it as a financial address. Despite the mandate from the Centre, several workers across the State were finding it difficult to complete the process due to Aadhaar-job card mismatch.
