The Union government has made capturing of attendance through its app, National Mobile Monitoring System, compulsory at worksites where 20 or more workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are employed. This move comes despite many problems, including patchy Internet connectivity in rural areas and little or no technical support.
The Ministry of Rural Development had started the exercise on a pilot basis on May 21 last year. Initially, the utilisation of application was to be voluntary but from May 16 this year, it has been made mandatory. The Ministry’s directive claims that the app, which requires two time-stamped and geotagged photographs of the workers in a day, encourages transparency and increases citizen oversight.
The biggest setback after the move has been for women employees, especially the supervisors or “work mates”. In a majority of cases, the employees’ families are averse to giving phones to women, especially smartphones. Hence, many women have dropped out.
