Centre introduces AI-based verification upgrade in attendance app for rural jobs scheme

With an aim to plug the gaps that allegedly allowed misuse of the mobile-based application used to capture workers’ attendance under the rural employment programme, Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-G-RAM-G), Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday (October 23, 2026) announced that an upgraded version with AI-based verification and other enhanced security features that safeguard against tampering and fraudulent attendance, will be used.

Mr. Chouhan, according to a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), said the government’s priority while ensuring employment for rural workers was to “protect their wages and ensure that public funds were used transparently and for their intended purpose”.

Face authentication was introduced in March 2026 as the Ministry’s response to concerns over fake attendance, under MGNREGA, that preceded the current rural programme.

However, despite the face authentication provision, in many cases “photo-to-photo capturing instead of live work images” was being done. There were also mismatches between the actual and recorded worker count. Discrepancies in the gender composition of workers were found at several worksites. Cases of the same photograph of workers appearing in multiple muster rolls, as well as mismatches between workers in morning and afternoon photographs, were also detected.

Safeguards against cloning

The latest version, Mr. Chouhan said, includes safeguards against cloning and tampering, along with liveness detection. “These features are designed to verify that the person appearing before the camera is a real, live worker rather than a dummy image or an old photograph. AI-based face verification has also been refined to account for differences across States and geographical regions,” he said.

Apart from this, the government has also put in place a “multi-layered verification system” to ensure that payments correspond to genuine work. The system includes an AI-based photo de-duplication module that identifies suspicious or repeated photographs. The Minister explained that where such entries are detected, the wage list and Fund Transfer Order (FTO) are automatically withheld until the necessary checks are completed.

Offline attendance

Mr. Chouhan also clarified that in areas where network connectivity is unavailable at a worksite, attendance can be recorded offline. An authorised exception mechanism is also available when face authentication fails for elderly workers or persons with disabilities, or when a mobile device encounters technical problems.

Sharing the progress of the scheme that was launched on July 1, the Minister said currently 31.23 lakh worksites are active and employment had been provided to more than 3.65 crore workers belonging to 2.89 crore rural households. Nearly 46 crore person-days have been generated so far, of which approximately 40 crore have been recorded through face authentication, he said.