<p>Karnataka will roll out an app-based attendance system to plug pilferage of wages in the rural employment guarantee scheme, but the government has asked the Centre to tweak the timings for workers to log in to make things more accountable. </p>.<p>At present, attendance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is recorded on a physical register, which can be manipulated, leading to crores of rupees being pocketed. </p>.<p>From the 2022-23 fiscal, Karnataka will use the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) in the form of a smartphone app that will record labour attendance and upload geotagged photos to make sure genuine workers get paid. </p>.<p>Under NREGA, unskilled labourers get Rs 289 a day. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/govt-to-tighten-mgnrega-scheme-to-plug-tremendous-leakages-1081026.html" target="_blank">Govt to tighten MGNREGA scheme to plug 'tremendous leakages'</a></strong></p>.<p>The rollout of the app-based attendance system will require mates — there is one for every 50-60 workers — to have a smartphone with 4G connectivity. Authorities say this can be done. But, Karnataka has flagged a bigger issue.</p>.<p><em>DH</em> has reliably learnt that the state government has asked the Ministry of Rural Development to change the attendance timings, which the Centre has fixed as 8 am to 11 am and 2 pm to 5 pm. </p>.<p>The government has argued that a bulk of NREGA works happen in North and Northeast Karnataka between April and June. In this region, summer temperatures go up to 45 degrees Celsius, so most workers prefer to come early in the morning and leave by noon. </p>.<p>Also, nearly 50% of NREGA workers in Karnataka are women. The current requirement of taking attendance twice a day over an extended period is likely to affect women, especially women-headed households. </p>.<p>So, Karnataka has asked the Centre to fix attendance timings as 7 am to 10 am and 11 am to 1 pm. </p>.<p>Pilferage of NREGA money is commonplace given the scale. In 2021-22, Karnataka achieved 16 crore persondays against the target of 13 crore at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore. </p>.<p>“Attendance is marked even when no one comes and money is pocketed. Also, attendance is marked when no work is done,” a senior official from the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department said. </p>.<p>Social audits regularly flag such misappropriation and the government has recovered at least Rs 14 crore in recent years. </p>.<p>When contacted, RDPR additional chief secretary L K Atheeq said: “We have deployed a number of measures to control pilferage. A strong social audit unit conducts 100% verification of all works, there are ombudsmen in all districts and quality monitors are also deployed.”</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Karnataka will roll out an app-based attendance system to plug pilferage of wages in the rural employment guarantee scheme, but the government has asked the Centre to tweak the timings for workers to log in to make things more accountable. </p>.<p>At present, attendance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is recorded on a physical register, which can be manipulated, leading to crores of rupees being pocketed. </p>.<p>From the 2022-23 fiscal, Karnataka will use the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) in the form of a smartphone app that will record labour attendance and upload geotagged photos to make sure genuine workers get paid. </p>.<p>Under NREGA, unskilled labourers get Rs 289 a day. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/govt-to-tighten-mgnrega-scheme-to-plug-tremendous-leakages-1081026.html" target="_blank">Govt to tighten MGNREGA scheme to plug 'tremendous leakages'</a></strong></p>.<p>The rollout of the app-based attendance system will require mates — there is one for every 50-60 workers — to have a smartphone with 4G connectivity. Authorities say this can be done. But, Karnataka has flagged a bigger issue.</p>.<p><em>DH</em> has reliably learnt that the state government has asked the Ministry of Rural Development to change the attendance timings, which the Centre has fixed as 8 am to 11 am and 2 pm to 5 pm. </p>.<p>The government has argued that a bulk of NREGA works happen in North and Northeast Karnataka between April and June. In this region, summer temperatures go up to 45 degrees Celsius, so most workers prefer to come early in the morning and leave by noon. </p>.<p>Also, nearly 50% of NREGA workers in Karnataka are women. The current requirement of taking attendance twice a day over an extended period is likely to affect women, especially women-headed households. </p>.<p>So, Karnataka has asked the Centre to fix attendance timings as 7 am to 10 am and 11 am to 1 pm. </p>.<p>Pilferage of NREGA money is commonplace given the scale. In 2021-22, Karnataka achieved 16 crore persondays against the target of 13 crore at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore. </p>.<p>“Attendance is marked even when no one comes and money is pocketed. Also, attendance is marked when no work is done,” a senior official from the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department said. </p>.<p>Social audits regularly flag such misappropriation and the government has recovered at least Rs 14 crore in recent years. </p>.<p>When contacted, RDPR additional chief secretary L K Atheeq said: “We have deployed a number of measures to control pilferage. A strong social audit unit conducts 100% verification of all works, there are ombudsmen in all districts and quality monitors are also deployed.”</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
