It has been 5 years since MGNREGA has been launched, and the Ministry of Rural Development has decided to create a biometric database of MGNREGA workers. The database will be shared by UIDAI for the Aadhar project. Here the entire issue has cropped up, where the social activists are against linking UID with MGNREGA. Till this decision was taken, the MGNREGA workers got themselves enrolled for various employment opportunities through the job cards issued to them. Now when the job cards are about to expire by the end of this year, its renewal under biometric system would be a time consuming process, and till then there would be no job guaranteed to them for minimum 100 days.

Who will Benefit?

Lets first analyze how the entire structure is working out currently. In the present scenario, if an individual is willing to do manual labor under MGNREGA, he or she has to fill up a form, and get his or her address scrutinized by the authorities at the panchayat level. Now, UID has been made mandatory for every MGNREGA worker, to seek employment opportunities under the provision.