In Bundelkhand,NREGA workers to get wages

A pilot project was launched in 10 villages each in Andhra Pradesh,UP,Bihar,Kerala and Orissa last year on instructions from the Government of India. In UP,all 10 villages are in Unnao district and the pilot project has been successful.

But no state had taken it forward for implementation on a large scale. The UP government wants to first introduce the system in Jhansi district and then move on to other districts of Bundelkhand region — Banda,Mahoba,Chitrakoot,Lalitpur,Hamirpur and Jalaun — in a phased manner.

In Jhansi,about 1.5 lakh workers in 437 gram panchayats will be covered. The total number of MGNREGA job card holders in Bundelkhand is around 10 lakh.

The Department of Rural Development has floated expression of interest for interested banks and institutions to implement the task. Two banks,Punjab National Bank and ICICI Bank,have shown interest and the state government is now planning to float request for qualification soon.

Once the system is introduced,MGNREGA workers would not have to stand in queues at banks to draw their wages. Instead,bank correspondents would visit them.

Using smart cards,workers would be able to file their demand for work on the site,get receipt against this demand,register their attendance at work site and draw wages at their doorstep.

The selected bank or an institution would be required to design the project,open bank accounts,develop the software and other infrastructure to ensure payments at the village level.

“Since the number involved is large,we have not specified the exact technology to be used. The target is to evolve smart card and hand-held device-based solutions for disbursement of government benefits to workers,including their wages. We have left it open to the interested players to come up with their innovative suggestions,which could be using mobile-based technology or GIS-based systems,” said a senior official.

The government would provide the bank with a list of beneficiaries and details of the amount to the paid to each of them. The total amount would be credited to the bank.

It would be the responsibility of the bank to capture the finger-prints of the workers along with photograph and other personal details and deliver the wages to these beneficiaries in a “time-bound manner” in each village.