Andhra looks to donors for help in job scheme

The Andhra Pradesh government is seeking help with both hands, literally. On the one hand, it is seeking an additional Rs 2,000 crore from the Union government under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), while on the other, it is requesting “donors” to contribute Rs 54.90 crore to keep the programme going.

Ironically, the state boasts of earmarking a whopping Rs 4,800 crore for the NREGP in this year's budget but is now looking towards donors to chip in with money to run the programme .

Rural Development Principal Secretary K Raju wrote a letter to all district collectors asking them to mobilise donations from “service-oriented” individuals/organisations to purchase work tools like crowbars and spades.

''It is necessary to supply 1,000 crowbars and 1,000 spades to 2,000 labourers in a mandal at a cost of Rs 5 lakh. In order to ensure minimum wages to labourers, it is essential that productivity norms are maintained. District water management authorities have made sincere attempts to procure implements but they have not been able to make them available,” the principal secretary said in the letter to the collectors.

The collectors were asked to explore the possibility of motivating “service-oriented” individuals/organisations to buy the implements in the open market and supply to labourers as a “token of solidarity” with the toiling masses.

The NREGP is being implemented in 1,098 out of 1,128 mandals in the state. At Rs 5 lakh per mandal, these crowbars and spades would cost Rs 54.90 crore for all mandals where the NREGP is being implemented.

“The demand for work under the NREGP has increased manifold because of drought conditions . We are required to start more works and hence the demand for implements like crowbars and spades. Hence, we are seeking donations from public for a noble cause,” said a top official in the rural development department.

By saving Rs 54.9 0 crore of government money, more people could be provided wage employment under the programme, he reasoned.

A district collector said the basic idea behind this was to “sensitise people” about the enormity of the situation and the programme.

“'By making a contribution, donors may feel empathy towards the distressed people,” said the collector.