Only 20k got 100-day work under NREGA in Jharkhand

Ranchi: Only 20,000 families — out of the 26.23 lakh active MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) card holders in the state — have got 100 days of work at a stretch in the current fiscal year, according to a study by civil society outfit NREGA Watch.
Stressing that the centrally-sponsored scheme for rural income generation is failing in Jharkhand, the study claimed that in the 2015-16 fiscal year, 1.74 lakh got 100 days of work. Since then, the study said there has been a steep decline every year at a time when Jharkhand is reeling under rural and farm distress, the study said.
Convenor of NREGA Watch (Jharkhand) Jamesh Herenj said there’s a lack of interest among the rural people in taking up MNREGA jobs owing to the non-timely payment of dues and the poor wages. “Since December 24 last year, payments worth Rs 83 crore are pending under MNREGA due to the non-allocation of funds and the liability only increases with time. In Jharkhand, a worker gets Rs 171 per day, which is lower than the amount a worker gets in non-MNREGA schemes, which is about Rs 257.29 per day,” Herenj added.
“One of the reasons behind the steep fall in job seekers is because of job diversification. Rural jobs comprise a whole range of works, right from digging wells to ponds, constructing roads, among others, as laid down by the gram sabhas. However, in Jharkhand, the former state government ignored the gram sabhas’ advice. For instance, in the last six months, the only work which took place in the state was TCB (trench cum bunds) creations. Before that, works like building toilets or rural houses were alloted at places where there was no demand,” he said.