Can NREGS employ migrant returnees in Nuapada? Monday, 18 May 2020 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA

 The readiness of the Nuapada district administration to face the situation in the aftermath of return of migrants to the district from their work destinations is two-fold: first to keep the returnees in quarantine for two weeks and second to provide them work under the MGNREGS.

According to official information, a total of 670 temporary medical centres with about 16,000 beds are in place to keep migrants, returning from other States, in quarantine. On the other hand, the district has been given a target of 72 lakh person days of labour budget under MGNREGS to provide job to the people in the current financial year, which is a three-fold increase from last year's labour budget under the MGNREGS.

A survey done by the ASHAs and AWWs in first week of April to estimate the number of migrant workers staying outside the district stood at 70,000. About 46,000 people, mostly migrant workers, have expressed their willingness to return by registering themselves in the Panchayats and through online portal.

The number of workers, who returned to the district in the first two weeks after lockdown declaration was approximately 3,500, who were sent to their respective villages to live in home quarantine. Out of the 46,000 registered, approximately 1,200 migrants have already returned to the district till May 15. The number is increasing day by day.

"Might be more than 30,000 as expected," said the officials.

The district had submitted a working labour budget (LB) of 18.53 lakh person days. However, the Government, perhaps looking at the migrant workers registration rate expressing their willingness to return, set a target of 72.96 lakh person days for the district for current FY. The LB target to be achieved till the end of May in Nuapada district is 3 lakh person days against which the achievement is about 45 percent.

Khariar block of the district had submitted a LB of 5.26 lakh person days, considering the achievement of the last FY. As against this, the department has sanctioned a LB of 12.82 lakh person days for the year. Likewise, the targets given to Komna, Sinapali, Boden and Nuapada blocks respectively are 18.53, 13.46, 11.33 and 14.94 lakh person days. In all the blocks, the target has increased more than three fold.

The district at present is implementing 3,318 projects out of which 2,245 are individual projects, like land development and dug well construction and the rest are community projects like improvement of community tanks and roads. The expenditure made till the end of second week of May is Rs1,072 lakh. A total of 1,90, 655 person days have been generated, which is 15 per cent less than the achievement in corresponding months of last FY.

About 44 percent of the total person days generated constitute women labour force. ST and SC workers constitute about 53 percent of the total working workforce in the MGNREGS.

"This reduction is due to delay in initiation of projects because of the lockdown and secondly because of less turnout of workers, especially the youths who returned home in early April. They stayed idle at home, yet refused to work in MGNREGS," the officials said.

Khariar block, after conducting a survey of migrant returnees in April, had planned to engage about 1,000 youths in MGNREGS, but all of them refused to work. Most of the youths who returned earlier from different parts of the country were engaged in construction sector.

"This job scheme does not create any opportunity for me. I work as a painter in Mumbai, but here the Government offers only earth work, which I don't want to do, " said TirthaMajhi of Kusmal, who is jobless since the imposition of lockdown. The MGNREG projects running at present in the district is unable to lure such skilled migrant returnees to work.

There is a clear indication that, the young workers, especially the skilled ones, would not work under MGNREGS, because the scheme hardly provides any option for their skill. On the other hand, the first batch of potential workers, who have arrived towards the end of first week of May will be remaining in quarantine for about 3 to 4 weeks i.e. till the beginning of June and would hardly get time to work under the scheme, as the Kharif operations would be beginning shortly after that.

The people, who are now benefiting from MGNREGS are those, who have not moved out of the district this year. TulsiramGahir of Bendrabahal village under Khariar block is one such person who is working in his land for last two weeks under MGNREGS. He has 1.30 acre of agricultural land out of which up land, which is locally known as Aat constitutes 85 decimals. The up land is undulating and has no earthen bund. Under the Land Development (LD) programme of MGNREGS, Tulsi is converting the land in to low land.

"The irrigation canal of Lower Indra Irrigation Project runs adjacent to my land but I don't get water because my plots are at higher level. Through this LD programme I am making it low to get irrigation," said he. He has a family of six members - his wife, son, daughter-in-law and two grand children. He along with his wife and daughter in law are now working there under the scheme.

In last two weeks, they have earned about Rs 6,000 from the land development work. Madanabati, Tulsi's wife is full of  appreciation for the job programme and said that the wage they have earned would be spent in inputs like seed and fertilisers during Kharif operations.

The Gram Rojgar Sewak of Bargaon Panchayat said that the Panchayat was ready with two community projects for every village with a total of 16 projects for Panchayat under MGNREGS, each of which could employ upto 200 persons every day.

At present, the GP is implementing 24 individual land development projects and 17 community projects where a total of about 200 workers are getting job every day, he told. "We can engage 300 workers every day if there is a demand" said the GRS.

The readiness of the administration to tackle the job need looks good, but considering the past experience of delayed payment to workers under MGNREGS, it is difficult to believe that the workers would take the job offer favourably. The main problem that is considered as an impediment against smooth implementation of MGNREGS by the officials is slow internet connection that results in delay in online processing/approval and online muster roll generation and other related activities. The officials revealed that initiation of projects during April this year was delayed for about two weeks due to such problems.