Lok Sabha Question No. 372 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Loss due to NMMS APP under MGNREGS
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri E T Mohammed Basheer, Adv Dean Kuriakose

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 372 ANSWERED ON 22/07/2025

## LOSS DUE TO NMMS APP UNDER MGNREGS

## 372. SHRI E T MOHAMMED BASHEER: ADV DEAN KURIAKOSE:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the fact that    Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers are facing loss of work and wages due to technical  malfunctions  and  operational  issues  related  to  the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) App;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to address suchmalfunctions;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  put  in  place  any  grievance redressal  mechanism  for  workers  who  are  unable  to  mark attendance due to network connectivity issues or nonfunctioning of the App; and
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a)to (d): To ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural Employment Guarantee  Scheme (Mahatma  Gandhi  NREGS),  the  Ministry  has decided that States/UTs shall ensure capturing of attendance at the worksite  through  National  Mobile  Monitoring  System  (NMMS)  App with two-time stamped, geo-tagged photographs of the workers in a day for all  the  works  (except  Individual  Beneficiary  Work)  through NMMS w.e.f. 1st January, 2023.

In  order  to  avoid  any  inconvenience  to  the  workers  due  to NMMS, provision has been made  that in case any worksite is not

located  in  network  covered  area  or  attendance  could  not  be uploaded  due  to  any  other  network  issue  then  attendance  can  be captured  in  offline  mode  and  can  be  uploaded  once  the  device comes into network covered area. In case of exceptional circumstances owing to which attendance could not be uploaded, the  provision  for  exemption  at  district  level  by  District  Program Coordinator also exists,  which has since been decentralized to the Block level.

With  the  above  exception  handling  mechanisms  in  place,  no instance  of  loss  of  work  or  wages  due  to  NMMS  has  come  to  the notice of the Ministry.

It  is  also  submitted  that  any  issue  faced  by  States/UTs  is taken  up  with  Ministry  on  a  real-time  basis  which  in  turn  makes effort  to  resolve  the  same  in  a  time  bound  manner.  Various enhancements are continuously incorporated in the system to make it  more  robust,  based  on  the   feedback  and  suggestions   given  by States  and  other  stakeholders,  such  as  eye  blink  and  head  count facility,  Mate-id  mapping,  verification  of  photographs  at  various levels etc.

The  implementation  of  the  NMMS  application  has  significantly improved  the  attendance  management  system  and  the  overall efficiency of the process. NMMS boosts the credibility of attendance data and fosters trust in the overall process. NMMS application also helps in  timely payment of wages as wage lists and FTOs can be generated on the same day as on which the attendance has been captured,  this  process  took  more  time  earlier  in  case  of  manual attendance system.

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