Randheja workers abandon NREGP

THE GUJARAT government claims it already pays a minimum wage of Rs 100 to workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP). But in Randheja, a village a few kilometers from Gandhinagar, workers have abandoned work under the NREGP after being paid just Rs 13 for a day’s work.

This is because the payment is made on the volume of work. “We were asked to dig pits of 1x1 ft at the rate of Rs 1.55 per pit. Between seven workers, 62 pits were dug on day one and this translated to about Rs 13 per person. This was not viable for us and we abandoned the work,” said a worker.

Villagers say the central government’s decision to increase the NREGP wages to Rs 100 has no meaning for them.

Another worker, Naginbhai Mangabhai Dantani, failed to turn up for work as he was asked to get his own tools. “It costs about Rs 300 to buy a spade and other tools. How can we afford it?” said Naginbhai, who stays in a chawl with his four children and wife.

The story is the same for other villages in the Gandhinagar taluka, according to Bharatsinh Zala, who filed an application under the Right to Information Act to find out how much money had been allocated to the 73 villages. In its reply, the government said it had made an allocation of Rs 12.5 lakh under NREGP for these villages. Zala’s question on how many people had benefitted has, however, remained unanswered.

“I was given information only for two villages where payments have been disbursed to people under the scheme,” he said. People have received about Rs 40-45 per day as per records. But, according to Zala, who surveyed 10 villages in the Gandhinagar taluka, the scheme is yet to take off here.

The residents of Randheja say there were at least 250 people in their village who were in need of work. “We can earn about Rs 100-120 in farms. However, we get work only for 15 days and the rest of the time we are free. Such schemes (NREGP) can benefit us,” said Dharmendra Bhikhabhai Dantani, a villager.

The state forest department’s scheme of planting trees, however, has been a huge success in the state, as people get as much as Rs 120-140 per day.

“There is no problem with NREGP. The problem lies at the operational level. There is overall lack of awareness at the panchayat level. Being a demand-driven scheme, the state should ensure that people get fair wages and they get it on time,” according to Harinesh Pandya, founder of Janpath, an NGO.

In reply to a recent question in the state Assembly on how much of the central government grant under the NREGP remained unspent, the government said it was Rs 77.47 crore in 2008-09, Rs 44.93 crore in 2007-08, and Rs 56.25 crore in 2006-07.

 

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