Digital Divide and Corruption: How MGNREGA Fails Bihar’s Rural Workers

In June, the Rajasthan Unorganised Workers Union, an activist group supporting Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers, discovered something strange on the National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app. The app that was launched in 2021, designed for recording MGNREGA workers' attendance displayed identical images of a nondescript green bush.

Instead of photographs depicting the workers present, more than five muster rolls (work attendance sheets) which contained the names of 10 individuals, were placed alongside this absurd photograph.

The timestamps indicated that these photos were taken mere minutes apart on June 17, yet they were all uploaded approximately four hours later, almost simultaneously.

According to the activist group, who also shared these photos with Decode, such anomalies are not uncommon in their routine surveys of MGNREGA implementations.

The image features a nondescript bush instead of workers and has been used for three different muster rolls. Image courtesy- Rajasthan Unorganised Workers Union

 According to Nikhil Shenoy, an activist associated with Rajasthan Unorganised Workers Union, digitisation has led to an increased opacity instead of the promised transparency, ultimately fostering corruption. Referring to the app, Shenoy emphasised how corruption and forced digitisation have tainted the system.

The MGNREGA Act passed in 2005 gives legal guarantee of a hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to adult members of a rural household who demand employment and are willing to do unskilled manual work.

Under the scheme, the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has set the minimum wages at Rs. 374 per day, effective from April 1, 2024. These wages are paid equally to both men and women workers. Wage payments are made through the workers' Savings Bank or Post Office accounts on a fortnightly basis.

Additionally, if employment is not provided within 15 days of receiving the application, an unemployment allowance is payable. The allowance rate is one-fourth of the wage rate for the first thirty days and at least one-half of the wage rate for the remaining period.

Activist Shenoy said, “We had come across an incident where photos of the same five people were captured at different sites and uploaded on the app. Who is uploading the photos and who is monitoring them? They are obviously a part of the hierarchy of corruption.”

Shenoy and his team also came across random photos of cows and ceilings uploaded on the app instead of the workers.

The app has been contributing to the perils of the MGNREGA workers as it requires them to upload two geo-tagged photos each day. Failure to do so means they will not receive payment for that day. Previously, attendance was recorded in physical books, which was then uploaded to the website. This register could be cross-checked by everyone, from supervisors to workers.

Shenoy said, “Due to the geo-tagging feature, attendance must be marked within a given radius. How can we expect internet connectivity in rural areas? It becomes a kind of bonded labour if the worker does not get paid just because he fails to mark attendance.”

“Imagine telling a minimum wage earner that you will not receive the day’s payment because your attendance couldn’t be marked due to internet shutdown in the area because a paper-leak happened due to the system's failure,” he said.

No MGNREGA card

A similar story emerged from Gambhirpur, a village in the Nawada district of Bihar. Like many of his fellow villagers, Vijay*, a middle-aged man who has a family of four, does not possess a MGNREGA card but has been allotted a unique number which makes him eligible to request work.

“We have been chasing officials for months, but they keep telling us the cards haven't been printed yet,” he said with frustration evident in his voice.

After months of persistent efforts by Pradeep Kumar, a social activist who also leads the NGO Apna School, Vijay and his neighbours were finally assigned the task of digging a nearby field under MGNREGA.

However, to their dismay, a JCB excavator completed the job the night before. “The officials just took our photo at the dug-up site for the purpose of uploading on the app. None of us got any money,” he said, with disappointment.

Now, the only work available for Vijay, and others like him, is assisting farmers in nearby villages with cutting and bundling wheat.

“For every 11 bundles, each weighing 50-60 kg, we get one bundle as payment. Selling it off, we make around Rs 100, which is quickly exhausted on buying oil and spices that last just 2-3 days,” he explained, as weariness in his eyes spoke volumes about his daily struggle.

The residents of Gambhirpur

Digitisation means middlemen

A few kilometers from Gambhirpur, conditions worsen in Hanumangarhi, where residents are forced into bonded labor because the digitisation of government schemes has failed to deliver benefits.

Savitri* sits beneath the cool shelter of a weathered concrete structure, gently soothing her 10-month-old son into sleep. This structure, once a bustling schoolhouse, now stands as a solitary construction amidst the modest mud-walled homes of Hanumangarhi.

“The little one drifts off so quickly when his father carries him around. I can see how much he misses him when he's away,” Savitri reflects, her gaze tenderly fixed on her infant son. Her husband, Sahu*, has been absent for several months now.

In Hanumangarhi, a village predominantly inhabited by the Manjhi community, a familiar rhythm unfolds each year. From November to June, nearly every man from the village ventures off to labour in the brick kilns of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

During these months of separation and toil, Hanumangarhi becomes a realm predominantly overseen by the women of the households.

“What choice do we really have but to rely on this seasonal work? The earnings barely last a month, and we end up indebted to the contractors, who recover their dues by employing our husbands and sons again in the next kiln season,” explained Nandini*, seated beside Savitri.

With no viable job prospects available, the villagers are compelled to depend on contractors who hire them seasonally at various brick kilns, often in distant states, leaving them with little chance to visit home during their work periods.

“What the world would have been if the schemes meant for us actually benefited us," said Nandini, who, like the others in the village, saw a MGNREGA card for herself only in 2019.

Months slip away with scarce work assignments in sight. “We’ve heard that the MGNREGA law mandates wages be released within 15 days, but I’ve never seen that happen,” Savitri shared, her voice tinged with frustration. “I was supposed to receive Rs 6,000 once, but only got Rs 200. The rest vanished into the pockets of middlemen who claim their job is to help us.”

The women of Hanumangarhi

Kumar shared with Decode that this narrative of bondage labour resonates across neighbouring villages of Hanumangarhi as well.

Kumar, deeply involved with these communities for over eight years, recounted, “We helped them obtain their MGNREGA job cards a few years ago. However, not every family reaps the benefits of government programmes.”

He attributed this disparity to entrenched corruption among middlemen, who siphon off significant portions for themselves.

Digital divide eroding benefits of government schemes

In these villages, most households share mobile phones to communicate with their husbands, as the men take the phones with them when they leave for work. Few women use the phones for anything beyond making calls.

“We aren’t educated enough to understand these devices fully. My husband taught me how to make calls, and that's all I use it for. Sometimes, we go days without talking if we run out of balance,” said Nandini.

These ground realities speak volumes of the digital divide which persists in India. According to a recent report put together by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), there is a stark digital divide among Indian men and women. This divide is mainly seen in rural areas and low-income urban communities, where the availability of digital infrastructure is limited.

The report highlights the significant divide in internet penetration between rural and urban areas. While 56% of urban India has access to the internet, only 29% of rural India has access to the internet.

Furthermore, the gender divide in internet penetration, with only 26% of women having access to the internet compared to 42% of men.

Research indicates that 15% fewer Indian women own personal phones compared to men, and about 33% are less likely to use mobile internet services. The study also revealed that only 25% of the total adult female population owns a smartphone, compared to 41% of adult men.

Kumar rhetorically asked, “In such deplorable conditions, can we realistically expect government schemes like MGNREGA, which hinge on the principles of Digital India, to deliver the anticipated benefits!”

“MGNREGA is one of the most crucial sources of employment in every village I work. Hence, we have always focused on getting the job cards made for them,” he added.

The process of getting a job card made is either online via Umang application or physically with the assistance of a rozgar sewak. The villagers inevitably go for the latter and end up losing a fair share of the promised wage to the “corrupt system”, as they claim.

On the Umang app, which is available in 23 languages, the job seeker needs to register using their mobile number on which to get their OTP. For the purpose of filling the application details like father's or husband's name, address, state, block, Panchayat, caste, family head's name, and ration card number are required.

Although the application process seems like a cakewalk for a digitally literate individual but not very suited for the MGNREGA worker, who according to Shenoy are the “poorest of the poor, looking for minimum wage jobs for survival”.

Digital India's irony: MGNREGA’s transparency falters

In addition to the NMMS app, MGNREGA's 'opaque' website has also been exacerbating the difficulties of the beneficiaries.

According to Shenoy, digitisation is essential if it brings ease and transparency. However, with MGNREGA, it has taken a backward turn. Previously, it facilitated rigorous public oversight and monitoring, but that is no longer the case.

Shenoy said MGNREGA was a forerunner in implementing the concept of 'Digital India,' long before the term was coined. He explained, “Every aspect of the programme—from job card lists and work demand records to muster rolls and payment processes—was digitised and made available online in real time, eliminating the need for paper documents to move between offices.”

Furthermore, to enhance accessibility, the government had introduced a 'workers' tab on the MGNREGA website. By entering their job card or Aadhaar number, workers could view information such as the number of days worked and payment due, and they could file an online application to request work.

Shenoy highlighted, “The website was designed with colour coding and audio clips for each option, requiring minimal computer literacy and only a basic understanding of the interface.”

Ironically, since the launch of the Digital India campaign, this section, once extensively used, has been dismantled over time, he added.

*Names have been changed.