CHENNAI: In October, there was restlessness and anxiety in the hinterland of Tamil Nadu More than the pending wages of hundreds of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) What started as a muffled voice of outrage soon intensified and signs of disillusionment snowballed into protest. Thankfully the central government sanctioned the money and the wages were distributed. But this episode emphasized the importance of planning in villages. The scheme, launched in 2006 as a pioneering social security measure guaranteeing work, called for sharply divided views. Its supporters say the project reduces poverty, limits migration and empowers women. On the other hand critics say that it is a project in which money is invested without proper return. Not to mention the irregularities found by social audit, rarely meaningful projects are undertaken and implemented effectively.
A senior bureaucrat involved in the audit of the scheme in Tamil Nadu said, “The MGNREGA has become a wealth distribution scheme rather than a job scheme.” It is perhaps a scheme that keeps every stakeholder happy – labourers, who are paid without hard work, panchayat members, who are often the cause of the theft of money, government officials, who either share the pie or Turns a blind eye to irregularities, and the political class that takes votes by keeping the villagers happy. Undoubtedly, the victim here belongs to the exchequer.
presence sufficient
about 200m from main road Adavathur Panchayats in Trichy, about 30 women, most of them senior citizens, and some men in their seventies were recently seen relaxing by the roadside and playing a game of dice.
The group consisted of MGNREGA workers who were working to remove weeds from the banks of the canal and clear the road adjacent to the road. “It is breakfast time,” 75-year-old M Meenakshi told TOI, when asked about those working around 11 am. The women said they started work at 8 a.m. and resumed after breakfast. But the shovel and sickle near him were clean and there was no sign of them being used. They said they were de-weeding the area Madhulankolai For the past few days, but there was little sign of the weeds going away.
The lack of supervision was evident. Though the panchayat appoints a woman enrolled in MGNREGA to work as a supervisor, she only checks attendance, there is no one to oversee working hours and quality of work. “Some of the workers are senior citizens. We cannot pressurize them, as some have injured themselves,” said R Sangeeta, supervisor-cum-MGNREGA worker.
While the youth feel that ₹220 per day is insufficient, and have moved to other jobs, others opt for MGNREGA because of the guarantee of work. N Parameshwari, a 42-year-old worker, said, “If we work in the fields to remove weeds, we will be paid only ₹150 to ₹200 per day, that’s what we are getting.”
After Covid-19, the number of workers seeking work under MGNREGA increased. As a result, most workers have not got even 50 days of work between March and December 2021. “As more senior citizens opt for MGNREGA work, we hardly get 50 days of work. More workers have also reduced the number of working days available,” Parameswari said.
Not much can be said about the projects as most of the panchayats keep repeating the same task of cleaning ponds, widening canals, strengthening drains and digging rainwater harvesting pits.
Panchayat representatives go easy on such lapses as they require the support of the local people, who have a significant number of votes. Adavathur panchayat chairperson K Dhanalakshmi said the quality of work could improve by reinstating welfare workers (Makkal Nala Paniyalargal) as supervisors for MGNREGA. “If two supervisors are appointed, the quality of work will improve,” she said.
facilities are idle
A disused vermicompositing unit in Kottapalayam village of Sarkarsamakulam block in rural Coimbatore highlights how MGNREGA money goes to waste as they are spent on projects that are abandoned.
In front of the graveyard is a hut built for vermi composting from organic waste from the village. Under MGNREGA, this facility built at a cost of ₹ 1 lakh in 2017-18 has not been used yet. The pits dug to compost the degradable and non-degradable waste are filled with an assortment of waste from the graveyard. MGNREGA records show that 55 days were spent on this project.
“We are yet to get the electricity connection of the vermicompost unit. We will start using the facility once the supplies are available,” says V Govindaran, president of the panchayat. The vermicomposting process does not require electricity and a power supply was only needed to illuminate the facility. Govindaran There is also no answer for the delay of four years in getting the connection. Villagers say that the garbage lying on the side of the road is seldom cleared.
If the objective of setting up a vermi compost unit in a village with a population of about 25,000 had been fulfilled, the roads would have been cleaned and the villagers would get organic manure.
When You Visited the village, the work of fencing the graveyard using Julieflora poles was in progress. Of the 25 women deployed, around 10 were seen sitting under the shadow of an overhead tank with no one to supervise. Most of the workers were between 35 and 50 years old. Shantamani, a worker, said, “We used to work in tanks, the reservoirs have turned muddy in the recent rains, we have been working here for the past one week.”
A senior bureaucrat involved in the audit of the scheme in Tamil Nadu said, “The MGNREGA has become a wealth distribution scheme rather than a job scheme.” It is perhaps a scheme that keeps every stakeholder happy – labourers, who are paid without hard work, panchayat members, who are often the cause of the theft of money, government officials, who either share the pie or Turns a blind eye to irregularities, and the political class that takes votes by keeping the villagers happy. Undoubtedly, the victim here belongs to the exchequer.
presence sufficient
about 200m from main road Adavathur Panchayats in Trichy, about 30 women, most of them senior citizens, and some men in their seventies were recently seen relaxing by the roadside and playing a game of dice.
The group consisted of MGNREGA workers who were working to remove weeds from the banks of the canal and clear the road adjacent to the road. “It is breakfast time,” 75-year-old M Meenakshi told TOI, when asked about those working around 11 am. The women said they started work at 8 a.m. and resumed after breakfast. But the shovel and sickle near him were clean and there was no sign of them being used. They said they were de-weeding the area Madhulankolai For the past few days, but there was little sign of the weeds going away.
The lack of supervision was evident. Though the panchayat appoints a woman enrolled in MGNREGA to work as a supervisor, she only checks attendance, there is no one to oversee working hours and quality of work. “Some of the workers are senior citizens. We cannot pressurize them, as some have injured themselves,” said R Sangeeta, supervisor-cum-MGNREGA worker.
While the youth feel that ₹220 per day is insufficient, and have moved to other jobs, others opt for MGNREGA because of the guarantee of work. N Parameshwari, a 42-year-old worker, said, “If we work in the fields to remove weeds, we will be paid only ₹150 to ₹200 per day, that’s what we are getting.”
After Covid-19, the number of workers seeking work under MGNREGA increased. As a result, most workers have not got even 50 days of work between March and December 2021. “As more senior citizens opt for MGNREGA work, we hardly get 50 days of work. More workers have also reduced the number of working days available,” Parameswari said.
Not much can be said about the projects as most of the panchayats keep repeating the same task of cleaning ponds, widening canals, strengthening drains and digging rainwater harvesting pits.
Panchayat representatives go easy on such lapses as they require the support of the local people, who have a significant number of votes. Adavathur panchayat chairperson K Dhanalakshmi said the quality of work could improve by reinstating welfare workers (Makkal Nala Paniyalargal) as supervisors for MGNREGA. “If two supervisors are appointed, the quality of work will improve,” she said.
facilities are idle
A disused vermicompositing unit in Kottapalayam village of Sarkarsamakulam block in rural Coimbatore highlights how MGNREGA money goes to waste as they are spent on projects that are abandoned.
In front of the graveyard is a hut built for vermi composting from organic waste from the village. Under MGNREGA, this facility built at a cost of ₹ 1 lakh in 2017-18 has not been used yet. The pits dug to compost the degradable and non-degradable waste are filled with an assortment of waste from the graveyard. MGNREGA records show that 55 days were spent on this project.
“We are yet to get the electricity connection of the vermicompost unit. We will start using the facility once the supplies are available,” says V Govindaran, president of the panchayat. The vermicomposting process does not require electricity and a power supply was only needed to illuminate the facility. Govindaran There is also no answer for the delay of four years in getting the connection. Villagers say that the garbage lying on the side of the road is seldom cleared.
If the objective of setting up a vermi compost unit in a village with a population of about 25,000 had been fulfilled, the roads would have been cleaned and the villagers would get organic manure.
When You Visited the village, the work of fencing the graveyard using Julieflora poles was in progress. Of the 25 women deployed, around 10 were seen sitting under the shadow of an overhead tank with no one to supervise. Most of the workers were between 35 and 50 years old. Shantamani, a worker, said, “We used to work in tanks, the reservoirs have turned muddy in the recent rains, we have been working here for the past one week.”
,