Karnataka banks on tech to plan MNREGA projects

To ensure transparency and adopt a scientific approach to projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the government has been using technology to avoid overlapping and unscientific projects.

While the Centre has decreed that 65% of annual MGNREGA work should be dedicated to water and conservation, theRDPRdepartment has made it mandatory for MGNREGA projects for the fiscal 2023-24 to be approved by a state core team.

This team will plan works based on data and approve those suited to a particular region. BesidesKarnatakas geographic information system and Geo MGNREGA for table-top planning, the NREGA commissionerate is using Composite Landscape Assessment & Restoration Tool, a mobile application developed byFoundation for Ecological Security(FES), a not-for-profit organization, for ground proofing.