Bhubaneswar: The Mahatma Gandhi NREGS (MGNREGS) was launched under Right to rural employment in the year 2006. Under the initiative, it is aimed at providing at least 100 days of guaranteed-wage employment to every rural household willing to engage in unskilled manual work during each financial year.
As per the guidelines of the MGNREGS, those who want employment under the Scheme are required to apply in writing or orally at a gram panchayat. After verification of the application, a job card is issued to the applicant within 14 days.
The beneficiaries then will get the wage payment for the manual work done directly into the Bank/Post office account as provided by the beneficiary. The wage payment is routed through the Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System (APBS). This system has been made mandatory since 1st January 2024.
APBS ROLLED OUT TO CURB CORRUPTION
As per Union Rural Development Ministry report, under the ABPBS, Aadhaar numbers were used to ensure genuine beneficiaries receive wages and corruption is reduced.
In case of failure in payment through Aadhaar based payment bridge system, an alternative route to make payment is available through account based payment that is National Automated Clearing House (NACH).
HOW JOB CARDS MADE?
As per Union Rural Development Ministry guidelines, job cards issuing authority is vested on the Gram Panchyats.
As per Para 1 of Schedule-II of MGNREG Act, adult members of every household who reside in rural areas and are willing to do unskilled manual work may apply for registration of their household for issuance of a job card to be eligible to apply for work.
It is the duty of the Gram Panchayat to register households after making such enquiry as it deems fit and issue job cards and the responsibility for ensuring genuineness of job cards issued rests with the Gram Panchayats.
HOW JOB CARDS FAKED?
As per Narega Sangarsh Morcha, which has exposed the MGNREGS fake job card cases in Bihar, labourer names were added to the muster rolls without their knowledge and falsely mark their attendance on the National Mobile Monitoring System app – the app that records the daily attendance of workers on the site.
Showing wage work they draw the payments meant for these labourers, and the wage amount were then redirected to corrupt officials, including those at various levels of government from blocks to districts.
The pattern is being employed across the states, it added.
2023 NEW RULES
In 2023, the scheme has been updated with digital processes which were made mandatory. It introduces new mandatory mobile application based attendance system (NMMS app) for MGNREGA workers, which requires two photographs of the worker to be uploaded twice a day in the morning and evening, at the worksite, in order to be marked present and receive payment.
NMMS – GAME CHANGER
The making use of NMMS app mandatory resulted in unmasking of the large number of ghost beneficiaries - means workers who are not actually present at the worksite are marked as present.
The NMMS turned game changer as it captured attendance along with geo-tagged photographs of workers, ensuring that only those who are present at the worksite receive wages.
STATE WISE FAKE JOB CARDS IDENTIFIED
As on Dec 16, 2024, a total of 35.57 lakh job cards have been deleted in the year 2024-25. The top states are given below.
STATES | JOB CARDS DELETED |
TAMIL NADU | 6.19 Lakh |
BIHAR | 4.56 Lakh |
CHHATTISGARH | 3.36 Lakh |
ASSAM | 2.1 Lakh |
ODISHA | 1.82 Lakh |
