The Assam Government has decided to use biometric card system, one of the latest tools of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for disbursement of wage under the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)'s scheme implementation. Thus, Assam would be the second state in the country after Andhra Pradesh to use biometric card system' for wage disbursement under NREGA implementation.

Assam Panchayat and Rural Development minister Chandan Brahma disclosed this here on Tuesday. According to him, in view of huge size of the NREGA programme it is necessary to make best use of latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the facility would help in ensuring effective implementation and proper management of the Programme but will also bring transparency and thereby credibility.

"Through this system the job card holders will be able to receive their money without hassle in their own Gaon Panchayat", said Brahma. The scheme would be operational from January next.

The Bio-Metric ATM is equipped with biometric sensor which has finger print authentications as a standard feature and it is possible for rural people to use just thumb impression on a touch screen which will allow the beneficiaries to withdraw their week's wages. The ATM accepts fingerprint as the means of authentication instead of PIN numbers only as used by other ATMs.

Business correspondent of banks would be responsible for executing of the scheme in presence of head of Gaon Panchayat. The dept has tied up with State Bank of India, Axix Bank and Assam Gramin Vikas Bank (a rural bank) for issuing Biometric Card and disbursement of wages under NREGA scheme.

The state Govt. would have to pay 2 per cent service tax for implementation of the biometric card.

Brahma informed that the state Panchayat and Rural Development Dept. had issued 34 lakhs job cards among rural households. In the current financial year, up to October, 378.03 lakhs person days were created for implementation of various schemes of rural development under NREGA in Assam.

The dept has also decided to increase the daily wage rate of job cardholders under NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) from Rs 80 to Rs 100. it would be effective from December 2. Assam Panchayat and Rural Development minister Chandan Brahma has announced this here on Tuesday.

Brahma claimed that the implementation of NREGA has improved over the years. "We spent Rs 950 crores on NREGA in the year 2008-09, for this year Government of India has allotted Rs 1361 crore which we hope to spent within this fiscal year", added the Assam Panchayat & Rural Develop Minister.