ICT For People’s Empowerment under

Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, the visionary tool to mould the

fortune of rural India is now on way to get Tech Savvy. Courtesy the use of ICT
(Information and Communication Technology) tools to ensure that the benefit reaches out
to the needy and the poor in rural areas in yet another step towards transparency. The
process of National consultation with different stakeholders has gathered momentum and
the deliberations with Planning Commission, Universal Identification Authority Of India
(UIADAI) and National Knowledge Commission have provided a fillip to the move. It
has the foresight of the Minister of Rural Development Dr. C.P. Joshi who has been at the
forefront to ensure effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act and its processes.
The emphasis in MGNREGA is now on ensuring public accountability, strengthening
transparency and encouraging activities that tap the productive potential of works
undertaken so that it becomes a platform for sustainable development. In order to enforce
transparency at the grass root level, the Ministry Of Rural Development intends to use
ICT devices, especially Biometrics and integration with UIADAI to introduce biometric
attendance on site and to improve the overall delivery system in the implementation of
MGNREGA by capturing all the processes right from registration, demand of work, issue
of dated receipt, allocation of work, attendance at worksite with GPS coordinates,
measurement of work and wage payments.
Initiatives
Pilot initiatives were undertaken for field test and evolve biometric based ICT enabled
workers’ transactions in Andhra Pradesh (Rangareddy and Visakhapatnam); Kerala
(Palakkad and Wayanad); Orissa (Cuttack and Mayurbhanj); Uttar Pradesh (Unnao) and
Rajasthan (Bhilwara). Another pilot project has been implemented in Tamil Nadu
(Cuddalore) that is – low-cost ATMs with finger-print authentication and local language
interface. These pilots demonstrate the feasibility of the use of biometric enabled ICT
applications for enabling transactions from registration to wage disbursement and
capturing the data in real time on the MIS.
Roll Out Plan
Based on the feedback from the pilots a Nationwide roll out plan has been envisaged
which includes Nationwide Introduction of Biometric database and the use of ICT
devices for improving the over-all delivery system.
The Primary objective is to ensure through use of biometric and GPS enabled ICT
devices on work sites, biometric attendance to eliminate ghost workers and the problem
of the local leadership appropriating the job cards. In the long term integrating MIS with
the bio-metric data will create an integrated process of capturing demand in real time,
generating date receipt, allocation of work and reducing delays in measurement and
payments.
This would require the Collection of Biometric data (UID compliant) of all MNREGA
workers and create a State Data Warehouse; Verification of real time attendance for
MGNREGA workers at the work-site through hand held devices and its transmission
through GPRS, CDMA, PSTN or internet connectivity whichever is available to update
muster roll records and MGNREGA web based MIS; and Supporting bank’s business
correspondent with micro mobile ATM devices to deliver wages payments at the workers
doorstep.
Use of ICT
The ICT enabled system would go a long way in promoting transparency and
accountability. It would be of great help in reducing the delays in Measurement &
Payments. In addition, the data so created could also be used by UIDAI for generating the
UID number. The Banks and Post Offices can use it for the purpose of servicing
MGNREGA accounts through the Business Correspondent Model.
The large scale of operations, the limitations of outreach of various services and the need
to handle large volumes of information in a transparent manner have made the use of ICT
in program delivery. ICT facilities both to support GP and block office of Programme
Officer (PO) as well as public access to information and online transactions are being
promoted.
Benefits of ICT Technologies
Gram Panchayat can use ICT technologies with immediate effect, thus enabling all
transactions in real time for MGNREGA processes. ICT enabled solutions provide the
last mile connectivity and will trigger innovations at the grass root, helping workers to
assert their Rights and hold implementation agencies accountable.
Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is a landmark social security legislation that epitomises the
right to employment on demand. It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by
providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year to every household.
Ever since its launch in February 2006, MGNREGA has now reached out to 619 districts,
6400 Blocks, six lakh villages and around 2.35 lakh village Panchayats. It has generated
777 crore person days since its launch in 2006, in which women have half the share and
SC/ST more than half. Minimum wages have risen across the country because of
MGNREGA intervention. Out of the total expenditure of Rs.95496 crore, 68% has been
spent on wages. Over 9.19 crore bank/post office accounts of workers have been opened,
encouraging savings among the poor. Over 45 lakh works have been completed with
more than 50% work on water conservation, making MGNREGA an ecological act.
The introduction of ICT in the implementation of MGNREGA would go a long way in
promoting transparency and accountability in its implementation.