State mandates face recognition for rural employment schemes

Kolkata: To bring in more transparency and curb irregularities in the allocation of work under rural job schemes, state govt has directed all districts to implement mandatory attendance recording through face authentication on the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app. The directive came into force on Tuesday.Officials said the measure has been introduced to prevent the use of fake job cards and ensure that only genuine beneficiaries receive wages under rural employment scheme. The issue of fraudulent job cards had come under scrutiny in recent years, with CM Suvendu Adhikari repeatedly raising concerns over irregularities during the previous Trinamool regime.According to the guidelines, the mobile phones or devices used for recording attendance must be pre-registered on the official portal. Authorities will have to log into the NMMS app, download the relevant muster roll, verify workers through face authentication, and upload the attendance data electronically.