N’PADA ADMN ENGAGES 400 IN NREGS PROJECT
N’PADA ADMN ENGAGES 400 IN NREGS PROJECT
Monday, 09 November 2015 | Ajit Panda | NUAPADA | in Bhubaneswar
More than 400 labourers are working in a tank improvement project in Kadumeri village of Beltukri Panchayat in Nuapada block. The project has been initiated by the DRDA, Nuapada under MGNREGS to tackle the distress situation owing to drought.
Most of the workers engaged here are either small and marginal farmers or landless agricultural labourers. Erratic rainfall during the current kharif operation has resulted in a huge loss of paddy crop.
As per an estimate of the Agriculture Department, the loss in paddy crop in the Gram Panchayat is more than 80 per cent in medium land. And, the farmers having low (Bahal) lands say, “It will be great relief if we harvest 20 per cent of crop in the low lands.”
Consequently, the employment generation potentials in agriculture sector have been drastically reduced. People are desperately in search of job opportunities and on the contrary, labour brokers locally known as Bhhatta Sardar are looming large like hawks to exploit the distress situation.
“To tackle the situation, the administration has already started wage works all over the district under MGNREGS and the work going on in Beltukri is one such,” says Project Director of DRDA, Nuapada Pradip Naik.
“We would have opted for advance payment from the Bhatta Sardars had the district administration not initiated the work in time,” reveal Jethuram Naik and Punitram Satnami, ward members of Kadumeri village who for the first time are working under the MGNREGS project.
The drought situation this year has also forced Nandakishor Dash and many others like him, who previously were averse to do work under MGNREGS. Dash, a Brahmin by caste, was running a small roadside hotel and earning Rs 200-Rs 300 per day. “On weekly market day, I used to sell up to Rs 1,000, but the sale reduced drastically as there was no harvest of crop in up and medium land this year,” says Dash. Brahmins usually do not work in such project, but I am forced to do as there is no alternative,” adds Dash who earned about Rs 4,500 in one month by working in the tank improvement project.
Agriculture in Beltukuri Panchayat is rain fed. Each acre of medium land in the Panchayat generates about 60 person-days of employment on an average during kharif operations. The people roughly calculate that paddy cultivation during this kharif would have covered at least 500 acres of medium land in the Panchayat. If it is true, the employment loss due to drought situation would have been more than 30,000 person-days in last 3 to 4 months. “To say that, the district administration would compensate this loss through MGNREGS would be a tall order,” admits a Government official. This can be judged from the fact that, the DRDA through MGNREGA has so far generated 6,127 person days during 2015-16 in Beltukri Panchayat. However, the PD, DRDA of Nuapada is hopeful of creating more opportunities. “25,000-30,000 person days would be generated in next two months in the Panchayat,” he assures.
The DRDA has started similar projects all over the district to check migration of labourers under distress condition. The district figure of employment generation during the current financial year till now is 7, 29,011 person days with an expenditure of Rs 1,535.83 lakh under MGNREGS. About 32,000 households of the district out of a total of 1.21 lakh registered have been provided employment till now.
Employment generated during the corresponding period of 2014-15 was 21 per cent more than the current year. “It was because of the delay in release of fund by the Centre, which arrived in the last part of July,” explain the DRDA officials. “We have been given a target of generating 21.40 lakh person days of employment with an allotment of Rs 62 crore during 2015-16 and we hope it would be achieved in next two months. Considering the present pace of progress, we might have to revise the labour budget to fix a new target,” says the Project Director.
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