Congress Slams Government Over Aadhaar-Based System In MGNREGA Payments
As Aadhaar-based system becomes compulsory for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) payments, Opposition Congress criticised Modi government that it should “stop weaponizing technology” specifically deploying Aadhar to deny the most vulnerable Indians their social welfare benefits.
In a statement, issued by Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh stated that the fifth extension of the deadline set by the Ministry of Rural Development(MoRD) to sanction MGNREGA payments via the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) ended on 31st December, 2023. “There are in total 25.69 crore MGNREGA workers of whom 14.33 crore are considered as active workers. As on 27th December, 34.8% of total registered workers (8.9 crore) and 12.7% of active workers (1.8 crore) are still ineligible for ABPS,” he added.
Though workers, practitioners and researchers stressed the difficulties in using ABPS for MGNREGA wage payments, the Modi government still continued with its destructive “experiments with technology”, Congress leader said. “This is Prime Minister’s cruel new year gift to exclude crores of the poorest and marginalised Indians from earning a basic income,” he added.
Indian National Congress condemns the Prime Minister’s cruel New Year gift to exclude crores of the poorest and marginalised Indians from earning a basic income through public works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The Indian National… pic.twitter.com/ykWAhaexL7
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 1, 2024
Congress leader pointed out that the Rural Development Ministry”s statement on August 30, 2023 raises some questionable claims such as job cards will not be deleted on the basis that the worker is not eligible for ABPS and that different ‘stakeholders’ in certain ‘consultations’ have found ABPS as the best route for making wage payment. Furthermore, it suggested that ABPS helps workers get their wage on time and avoids transaction rejections.
“First, since April 2022, an alarming 7.6 crore registered workers were deleted from the system. 1.9 crore registered workers were deleted from the system 9 months into the current financial year. Ground verification of deleted workers has shown that a significant number of deletions have been wrongfully done — as a result of the tearing hurry of the Modi government to implement Aadhaar authentication and ABPS,” he accused.
Congress leader claimed that the Ministry should clarify who are these ‘stakeholders’ were and when these consultations were held. He added that even after raising multiple concerns from various parties concerning the implementation of ABPS and other technological interventions, Modi government has “turned a deaf ear”.
Continuing further, Jairam Ramesh said that Ministry”s assertion regarding the increase in payment efficiency with the ABPS have been completely debunked by a LibTech India working paper. “The working paper also shows that the difference in rejection rates between ABPS and the account-based payments is statistically negligible,” he added.
”The PM’s well-known disdain for MGNREGA has translated into a slew of experiments designed to use technology as a weapon to exclude — such as the digital attendance (NMMS), ABPS, drone monitoring and the proposed integration of facial recognition to NMMS,” Jairam Ramesh said.
Congress leader argued that no proper discussion or scientific piloting was carried before releasing these ‘experiments’ on crores of Indians.
Restating the claims Congress raised on August 30, 2023, Jairam Ramesh said that the Modi government should “stop weaponizing technology,” specifically deploying Aadhar to deny the most vulnerable Indians their social welfare benefits. Besides, the Congress leader pointed out in a statement that it should release delayed wage payments and implement open muster rolls and social audits to improve transparency.
