LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh will soon deploy drones to monitor work being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mnregs), which faces allegations over lack of transparency, following delay in appointment of Lokpals in many districts.
Though officers of the state rural development department, which oversees the MNREGS, claim complete transparency in the implementation of the scheme, questions have been raised over the delay in appointments of lokpals in different districts.
Officers said only 20 to 25 of UP’s 75 districts have Lokpals, some of them have additional charges of other districts. “We are going to use drones to inspect and monitor the work being carried out under MNREGS. The process of appointing an agency to provide drones in all districts is underway. We have Lokpals in nearly 20-22 districts and the state government is appointing lokpals in other districts,” said a senior officer of the rural development department dealing with the MNREGS.
UP rural development commissioner Gauri Shankar Priyadarshi refused to share any details on the issue. When asked about measures initiated to ensure transparency, joint commissioner (rural development) Anil Kumar Pandey (MNREGS) said: “We have initiated the process…the financial bids to hire drones will be opened soon.”
The Union ministry of rural development had allowed the use of drone technology and standard operating procedure (SoP) for monitoring MNREGS works in July 2023. The SoP provides for using drones for monitoring ongoing works, inspection of completed work, impact assessment of completed works and special inspection.
{{/usCountry}}The Union ministry of rural development had allowed the use of drone technology and standard operating procedure (SoP) for monitoring MNREGS works in July 2023. The SoP provides for using drones for monitoring ongoing works, inspection of completed work, impact assessment of completed works and special inspection.
{{/usCountry}}“Technology always helps to ensure transparency, provided the intentions of the implementing agency are right. The state government is, however, yet to complete the process of appointment of lokpals under the provisions of MNREGS,” said Sanjay Dixit, former member, Central Employment Guarantee Council.
Dixit brought the issue of transparency to the notice of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. He said the state government decided to hold interviews for Lokpals in 52 districts, but it decided to cancel the interviews at the last minute this month.
Recently, questions were raised over the alleged violation of labour-wage material ratio in many districts. The state government had a budget of ₹8373.12 crore for the MNREGS in 2022-2023 and it asked all divisions to evaluate whether a labour wage-material ratio of 60:40 was being maintained. Details of the response received from various districts were not shared by the rural development department so far.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is in-charge of the rural development department, could not be reached for his comments on the issue.