Center introduces AI-based authentication upgrade in attendance app for rural jobs scheme

The minister said that currently 31.23 lakh jobs are active and employment has been provided to more than 3.65 lakh workers belonging to 2.89 lakh rural households. File | Photo credit: Arun Kulkarni

To plug loopholes that allegedly allowed the mobile app used to capture the attendance of workers under the rural employment scheme, Viksit Bharat-Garantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-G-RAM-G), to be misused, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday (Oct 23) announced an improved AI-based security feature and announced an improved version of AI security that is enhanced. manipulation and fraudulent attendance, will be used.

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

Facial authentication was introduced in March 2026 as the ministry’s response to concerns about fake attendance under MGNREGA, which preceded the current rural scheme.

However, despite the facial authentication provision, in many cases “photo-on-photo capture instead of live work images” was being carried out. There was also a discrepancy between the actual and recorded number of workers. Inconsistencies in the gender composition of workers were detected at several workplaces. There were also instances of the same worker photo appearing in multiple muster roles, as well as discrepancies between workers in morning and afternoon photos.

Guarantees against cloning

The latest version, Mr. Chouhan said, includes protection against cloning and tampering along with liveness detection. “These features are designed to verify that the person appearing on camera is a real live worker rather than a fictitious image or an old photo. The AI-based facial verification has also been enhanced to account for differences between states and geographies,” he said.

In addition, the government has also introduced a “multi-layered verification system” to ensure that payments correspond to actual work. The system includes an AI-based photo deduplication module that identifies suspicious or duplicate photos. The minister explained that if such records are detected, the payroll and funds transfer order (FTO) are automatically withheld until the necessary checks are completed.

Offline attendance

Mr. Chouhan also clarified that attendance can be recorded offline in areas where network connectivity is unavailable in the workplace. An authorized exception mechanism is also available when facial authentication fails for older workers or people with disabilities, or when mobile devices encounter technical issues.

The minister said that currently 31.23 lakh jobs are active and employment has been provided to more than 3.65 lakh workers belonging to 2.89 lakh rural households. Nearly 46 million person-days have been generated so far, of which around 40 million have been logged through facial verification, he said.

Published – 23 Oct 2026 21:55 IST