‘Stop weaponising technology’: Cong slams govt over Aadhaar-based system in MGNREGA payments

With an Aadhaar-based system reportedly becoming mandatory for MGNREGA payments, the Congress on Monday said the Modi government should “stop weaponising technology”, especially Aadhaar, to deny the most vulnerable Indians their social welfare benefits.

The opposition party also condemned it and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “well-known disdain for MGNREGA has translated into a slew of experiments designed to use technology as a weapon to exclude”.

In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the fifth extension of the deadline set by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to mandate the payments for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) ended on December 31, 2023.