MGNREGS digital attendance system being manipulated, Centre tells States

Topic: GS 2 – Governance: Welfare Schemes

Context

The Union Government has identified widespread misuse of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), the digital attendance system used under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).  In response, the Ministry of Rural Development has introduced four layers of physical verification to prevent manipulation and ensure transparency in wage payments.

What is the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS)?

The NMMS was introduced in 2021 to enhance transparency and accountability in MGNREGS implementation. 

• It requires workers’ attendance to be recorded through geo-tagged photographs uploaded twice daily. 
• It was made mandatory in 2022. 

However, complaints emerged regarding connectivity issues and operational challenges, and now, the government has discovered deliberate manipulation that undermines the credibility of the system.

Issues identified:

• Uploading irrelevant or duplicate photographs
• Photo-to-photo capturing instead of live work images
• Mismatch in actual vs recorded attendance and gender composition
• Gender discrepancies in worker composition.
• Mismatch in morning and afternoon photos.
• Non-uploading of afternoon images.

It is a clear case of corruption.

Government Response

The Government has issued a 13-page directive on July 8 to State governments.

1. 1. It has introduced four levels of verification:

• Gram Panchayat: 100% verification

1. 1. Block: 20% random checks
   2. District: 10% checks
   3. State: 5% checks

1. It has allowed editing of muster rolls before wage bill preparation, which earlier could be done only at the District Collector level.

The Ministry has stated that no relaxation will be given in cases of misuse or manipulation of NMMS.

Issue of Corruption in MGNREGS

• Corruption in MGNREGS arises from ghost beneficiaries, fake muster rolls, and over-reporting of work. Officials often collude to siphon funds through inflated attendance records and fictitious job cards. 
• Delayed wage payments and lack of transparency enable rent-seeking. 
• Fake Beneficiaries: Often Village officials upload fake or repeated photographs, using technological loopholes, and take all the benefits from multiple users.

Poor social audits, weak grievance redressal, and political interference worsen accountability.

Though MGNREGS aims at rural employment and poverty reduction, corruption undermines its effectiveness, demanding stronger audits, digital safeguards, community monitoring, and punitive measures to protect its integrity and ensure benefits reach genuine workers.

Conclusion:

The development underscores the need for a balanced approach combining digital technology with robust offline monitoring to ensure the integrity of welfare programs.