RAMANATHAPURAM: Workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Ramanathapuram district are returning home without work due to technical issues in the newly introduced iris-based biometric attendance system.
Beneficiaries reported that network issues, server problems, and device glitches are preventing successful iris scans at worksites, making it difficult to mark attendance and begin work. Due to these problems, many workers in Ramanathapuram district are unable to mark attendance and are returning home disappointed without work.
Under the new system, workers must register their iris via a mobile application operated by the worksite supervisor. Attendance is confirmed only if the iris scan recorded in the morning matches the one recorded in the evening.
The iris-based system was introduced to prevent irregularities in the 100-day employment scheme. Workers’ iris details recorded in job cards are being linked with Aadhaar records to strengthen verification.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, implemented in 2006, aims to provide employment in rural areas and reduce poverty. Workers are paid up to Rs 326 per day, though wages vary by state.
Earlier, several monitoring measures were introduced to prevent misuse of the scheme. Payments that were initially distributed through village panchayat leaders were replaced with direct bank transfers after beneficiaries were required to open bank accounts.
Attendance verification was also tightened by requiring group photographs and by taking mandatory photographs in the morning and evening at worksites. Later, location-based photographs uploaded through a mobile application were introduced.
Despite these measures, complaints emerged that some officials uploaded previously stored photographs from other locations. Following these allegations, the iris-based biometric attendance system was introduced.
Officials said the technical issues would be resolved once the system is fully implemented. They added that scans conducted early in the morning usually run without issues, but delays can occur later due to server load.