Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches upgraded NMMS (2.0) app for attendance under the VB-G RAM G job scheme

26 October 2026 · English Government Schemes & Education

Topics: Environment, Rural Development & Economy · 26 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 23 Oct 2026 in New Delhi launched an upgraded version of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app, which records the attendance of workers under the 'Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)' (VB-G RAM G). Its aim is to stop fake attendance. Built with technical support from IIT Madras, it offers AI-based face verification, liveness detection, device-level security, anti-cloning and anti-tampering safeguards, AI photo de-duplication and offline attendance for sites without network. An exception mechanism covers elderly workers, persons with disabilities and those with mobile-device problems.

Key facts

Background

• History: the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was enacted in September 2005 and launched on 2 Feb 2006 at Bandlapalli, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, in 200 districts; 'Mahatma Gandhi' was added to its name in 2009 (MGNREGA). It guaranteed 100 days of work a year; Section 17 provides for social audit by the Gram Sabha.
• New law: VB-G RAM G Act 2025 – Presidential assent December 2025; replaces MGNREGA with 125 days of guaranteed work a year; Centre–State funding 60:40 (90:10 for NE and Himalayan States); a pause of up to 60 days in peak farm season; weekly wages. Rolled out nationwide from 1 July 2026 (launched from Andhra Pradesh).
• NMMS: introduced by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2021 – real-time attendance at worksites with time-stamped, geo-tagged photographs; made universal for all works from 1 Jan 2023.
• Constitution: the right to work is a Directive Principle (Article 41). Wages are not triggered by attendance alone – they are calculated from work measured by engineers and logged in electronic measurement books, and paid by Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

Tamil Nadu link: IIT Madras, Chennai, gave technical support for the app. Tamil Nadu is also one of the nine States that record 100% of attendance through the system (the others: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand).

Source: PTI / Daily Excelsior, 24 Oct 2026; AffairsCloud, 25–26 Oct 2026; DT Next, 21 Dec 2025 (VB-G RAM G Act); Swarajya (1 July rollout)

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