The idiom "Every dog has its day" cannot be more true than in the case of biometrics for MGNREGA. The initiative of biometric registration of beneficiaries of work-for-food programme / NREGP started in 2006 has now come a full circle on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of MGNREGA.
The field work done in remote parts of rural Andhra Pradesh by NGOs was denigrated by bureaucrats by saying 'biometrics may work for while collared workers and certainly not for blue collared workers', more so for the field labourers whose hands and fingers would be smudged / hardened.
The national award - Manthan Award - in 2006 for "Biometric Registration of Beneficiaries of NREGP under the category of e-Inclusion and Livelihood Creation" was the turning point. The Govt. of Bihar initiated in 2007 a Proof of Concept for e-Muster Roll for unique biometric identification of beneficiaries of NREGS. This has now blossomed into the e-Sakthi project covering 25 million of the poorest of the poor of Bihar. The Govt. of Bihar headed by Shri. Nitish Kumar has been recognized by the citizens for its good governance. This epoch making initiative caught the attention of the Govt. of India which launched the AADHAR project.
The sayings of Mahatma Gandhi "first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win" cannot be more true than for the case of introducing biometrics for a project, rightly named after the father of the nation! The Government has also failed to recognise the first field initiator of biometrics for NREGP and the Manthan Award Winner of this project on its fifth anniversary.
It is high time the Government integrates MGNREGA and AADHAR and introduces a Biometric Smart Card to all beneficiaries linked to a money account in a bank / post office for fool proof tracking, avoid cash transactions and plug the loopholes in the system.
Best,
Kris Dev, Biometric Implementation Consultant, Chennai.
Life Line to Business. http://ll2b.blogspot.com . Ph: 98 408 52132
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