The Aadhaar-Based Payment System and MGNREGS: Reassessing Technological Priorities

Aadhaar and MGNREGS Integration: Challenges have arisen from linking MGNREGS payments to the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), including issues like internet connectivity, fingerprint recognition, and errors in linking or authentication.
Impact on Workers: Over 5.2 crore workers were removed from the MGNREGS database in 2022-23, with 34.8% of job card holders deemed ineligible for ABPS, highlighting the exclusion caused by technological hurdles.
Technology vs. Worker Priority: The deployment of ABPS has prioritized technology over the empowerment and welfare of workers, sidelining the intended beneficiaries of the scheme.
Objectives of Employment Guarantee Schemes: MGNREGS aims to offer work security to socio-economically deprived households, a goal that should be facilitated rather than hindered by digital technology.
Techno-Solutionism Risks: The focus on technology for technology’s sake risks undermining the socio-economic benefits of employment guarantee schemes, such as nutritional intake improvement, women empowerment, and political transparency.

Potential of Technological Interventions: While technology plays a central role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), its application in schemes like MGNREGS must prioritize enhancing worker welfare and livelihood security.
Technological and Non-Technological Solutions: Addressing the challenges faced by workers in accessing MGNREGS benefits requires both technological improvements and a reassessment of the underlying approach to technology deployment in social schemes.
State's Conception of Workers: Workers should be viewed as active participants in development goals, not merely subjects of technological implementation. The state must balance its enthusiasm for technology with the actual needs and welfare of workers.

Reason it's important : Workers, not tech, should be state’s priority

Published in : The Hindu

Date appeared in newspaper : 01 April 2024

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