NREGS workers creating public assets in villages

Anantapur: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MGNREGS) under which rural wage workers have not only emerged as a large nation-building work force but they are contributing to creation of social and public assets at the village-level.

District Water Management Agency (DWMA) is the moving force behind the creation of public assets and rural infrastructure building including laying of public roads, tree plantation, building of Anganwadi centres and gram panchayats and desiltation of community tanks etc.

In the recently concluded financial year 2017-18, an amount of Rs 109.2 crore had been spent on laying 532 CC roads, digging of farm ponds, building of 379 Anganwadi buildings and building of 15 gram panchayat buildings etc.

In the previous year, the magnitude of works taken up were large and were worth Rs 549.33 crore. Works executed include 24 Stree Sakthi bhavans, planting 1 crore seedlings as part of social forestry, maintenance of plantations in 30,110 acres, 500 water troughs for cattle, promotion of mulberry plantations in 1,000 acres and in execution of 31 solid waste management projects in rural areas.

An amount of Rs 329.6 crore was spent on payment of wages for labourers and Rs 219.73 crore on material component for execution of works. MGNREGS, once frowned upon as a lazy work force during the days of its inception for its poor productivity has over the years emerged as a productive work force realising the twin objectives of creation of work for 100-150 days for rural poor and also for using the work force for creation of social and public assets.

Today, the work force is being used to cover the entire gamut of infrastructure creation in rural areas and just anything on earth that has to do with social and community development. DWMA Project Director Jyothi Basu told 'The Hans India' that in the 2018-19 year, an action plan for spending Rs 350 crore on wages for NREGS workers and community assets building worth Rs 349 crore has been fixed.

He said that the wage rate being paid to men and women workers include Rs 194 per day apart from other allowances being paid, which include Rs 19 distance allowance, Rs 3 mate allowance, Rs 5 drinking water allowance, Rs 6.88 butter milk, Rs 20 distance allowance for disabled, Rs 10 shade allowance, Rs 5 for basket, Rs 10 for crow bar and other allowances. The latest dimension to NREGS is creation of hundreds of crores worth public assets which is turning the scheme all the more beautiful.

District Collector Veera Pandian's resolve to achieve the impossible feat of transforming NREGS work force into a community and nation-building work force and the commitment of DWMA Project Director in constant monitoring of the project through his continuous field visits and motivating his subordinate staff has brought in sea change in the very character of the scheme which was once taken very lightly by the wage laborers.

The NREGS workers are working for 6-7 hours a day and the important element of the scheme is community development. Out of 7.86 lakh wage labourers holding job cards, 5.27 lakh job card holders actively participated in community development works. The heartening aspect of the project is involvement of 2 lakh women workers in the recently concluded year.

By Ravi P Benjamin