New Delhi: The Congress Party has alleged that the new notification that those coming to work under the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will now have to register their attendance through a mobile app will lead to corruption.
Jairam Ramesh, media secretary of the Congress party, said in a statement: “The Department of Rural Development has announced that the 9 crore workers working under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should now register their attendance through the mobile application.
Instead of increasing transparency, this notification will have a negative effect. It will create problem for workers to get their wages. Marginalized people, especially women, who do not have an expensive smart phone will be disempowered. In short, the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which is the livelihood of crores of people, will lose its value due to this move. This predatory move by the Modi government to reduce the expenditure on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is a blatant attack on the poor. This move will lead to corruption and disempower the poor, oppressed and tribal people.
All the documents stay on the mobile while registering attendance through the mobile app. Remuneration is linked to work completed under this scheme. However, there are no details about this in the app. Not only is this new system impractical, it undermines transparency. The previous practice required everyone to sign when they came to work. It is also subject to social censorship. With the new app, workers are more likely to lose their jobs and wages when a server is down. Also, you have to wait for hours for a group photo shoot.
This is coupled with the halving of food grains to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Food Security Scheme are the main means of livelihood of the poor and needy people who have been severely affected by the Corona pandemic and the central government’s mismanagement of the economy. Due to the dual attack on these two schemes, the poor will suffer the most. However, these actions clearly show that Prime Minister Modi is not concerned about this,” said Jairam Ramesh.
