'Stop weaponising technology': Cong slams govt over Aadhaar-based system in MGNREGA payments
New Delhi (PTI): With an Aadhaar-based system reportedly becoming mandatory for MGNREGA payments, the Congress on Monday said the Modi government should "stop weaponising technology", especially Aadhaar, to deny the most vulnerable Indians their social welfare benefits.
The opposition party also condemned it and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "well-known disdain for MGNREGA has translated into a slew of experiments designed to use technology as a weapon to exclude".
In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the fifth extension of the deadline set by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to mandate the payments for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) ended on December 31, 2023.
"There are in total 25.69 crore MGNREGA workers of whom 14.33 crore are considered as active workers. As on December 27, 34.8 per cent of total registered workers (8.9 crore) and 12.7 per cent of active workers (1.8 crore) are still ineligible for ABPS," Ramesh said.
Despite many challenges highlighted by workers, practitioners and researchers in using ABPS for MGNREGA wage payments, the Modi government has continued with its "destructive experiments with technology", he said.
"This is prime minister's cruel new year gift to exclude crores of the poorest and marginalised Indians from earning a basic income," he alleged.
Ramesh pointed out that a statement issued by the MoRD dated August 30, 2023, made certain questionable claims such as job cards will not be deleted on the basis that the worker is not eligible for APBS and that different "stakeholders" in certain "consultations" have found ABPS as the best route for making wage payment.
It also claimed that ABPS helps workers get their wage on time and avoids transaction rejections, Ramesh noted.
"First, since April 2022, an alarming 7.6 crore registered workers were deleted from the system. 1.9 crore registered workers were deleted from the system nine months into the current financial year. Ground verification of deleted workers has shown that a significant number of deletions have been wrongfully done -- as a result of the tearing hurry of the Modi government to implement Aadhaar authentication and ABPS," he alleged.
Ramesh said the ministry must clarify who these "stakeholders" were and when these consultations were held.
"In fact, the Modi government has turned a deaf ear to the multiple concerns from numerous delegations on the implementation of ABPS and other technological interventions," he claimed.
"The MoRD's claims regarding the increase in payment efficiency with the ABPS, which remain unsubstantiated, have been thoroughly debunked by a LibTech India working paper. The study analysed 3.2 crore wage transactions to demonstrate that there is no statistically significant difference in the time taken to process account and Aadhaar based payments by the Union government," he said.
The working paper also shows that the difference in rejection rates between ABPS and the account-based payments is statistically negligible, he added.
"The PM's well-known disdain for MGNREGA has translated into a slew of experiments designed to use technology as a weapon to exclude -- such as the digital attendance (NMMS), ABPS, drone monitoring and the proposed integration of facial recognition to NMMS," Ramesh alleged.
No due consultation or scientific piloting was done before unleashing these experiments on crores of Indians, he claimed.
"The Indian National Congress reiterates its demand of August 30, 2023, that the Modi government should stop weaponising technology, especially Aadhaar to deny the most vulnerable Indians their social welfare benefits, release delayed wage payments and implement open muster rolls and social audits to improve transparency," Ramesh said in his statement.
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AI chatbot 'MahaChatur' to offer skills, jobs, entrepreneurship support on 1 platform: Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): An artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot developed by a Maharashtra government department will provide skill training, employment avenues, entrepreneurship support and guidance to youth on a single platform, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.
He called the AI chatbot, 'MahaChatur', a "transformative initiative" and noted it will make the transition from education to employment easier for young people while helping industries access skilled manpower quickly.
The chatbot, developed by the Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department, is the first such initiative by any state government in the country, the CM said.
Fadnavis was speaking at the launch of the chatbot and the signing of multiple MoUs here.
Skill Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, senior officials, diplomats and representatives from industry and academic institutions were present at the event, an official release said.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, Fadnavis said nearly 65 per cent of the population is below 35 years of age, and equipping this workforce with relevant skills is critical to economic growth.
He said the MahaChatur chatbot, a digital assistant built to converse with users, will act as a bridge between job-seeking youth and industry requirements.
The AI-based platform will function as a one-stop solution, offering information on skill training, job opportunities, entrepreneurship guidance, application processes, assessments and market linkages. It will be easily accessible through WhatsApp, enabling wider outreach, he stated.
The chief minister emphasised the initiative will be particularly useful for employment-oriented youth seeking guidance.
He said efforts such as setting up centres of excellence, modernisation of ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes), increased participation of women in skill programmes and global partnerships will help strengthen the skill ecosystem.
Speaking on the occasion, Lodha said the state government aims to bring together the unorganised skill sector on a single platform to strengthen Maharashtra's growth.
He noted that while AI may disrupt some jobs, it will also create new employment opportunities, and the Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department is working to connect youth from the state to global job markets.
The department has also launched the chatbot to streamline apprenticeship processes under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and the Maharashtra Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (MAPS). The platform enables registration in about 15 minutes, significantly reducing the earlier time of two to three days, Lodha maintained.
Developed in partnership with the Right Walk Foundation, 'MahaChatur' operates on government servers using open-source AI and ensures data security. It will provide end-to-end information -- from training to placement -- for both rural and urban youth, officials said.
In the CM's presence, MoUs were signed with several organisations, including IPE Global Ltd, National Skill Training Institute, Mumbai, Shrimad Rajchandra Educational Trust, Shri Shri Rural Development Programme Trust and UN Women for collaboration in areas such as women's skill training, data security, prison skill development and youth employment initiatives, the release said.
Representatives of several industry partners, including Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and others, were felicitated for their contribution to skill development.
Six ITI students selected for apprenticeships in Germany were also honoured and presented offer letters at the event.
Panel discussions on "Industry Leadership Dialogue" and "AI for Public Service Delivery" were held, focusing on emerging opportunities in skill development and AI-driven services.
The initiative is expected to significantly improve transparency, grievance redressal and access to employment-linked services, the release said.
