The COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have deterred the landless workers of Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, both falling under the Cavuery delta, from reporting to work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), this month. The numbers are greater than what the two districts saw a year ago, in May 2019.
There is one more district – undivided Tirunelveli in the south – which has, so far, recorded a higher turnout of workers compared to the situation a year ago.
According to the data available with the State Rural Development and Panchyat Raj Directorate, on Friday, Nagapattinam registered the highest turnout of 57,136 workers , whereas the daily average workers turnout in May 2019 was 53,423. Likewise, in Tiruvarur, the figure was 25,330 against the previous year’s average of about 24,690, and in Tirunelveli, the figures were 26,964 and 26,298 respectively.
All other districts have experienced much less than what they had a year ago. Of them, only three districts – Villupuram, Dharmapuri and Madurai – have been able to get at least one half of what they had in May 2019. The percentage of turnout this time with reference to the previous year hovers between 80% and 63% in these these districts. There are three districts – Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai and Ariyalur – which have seen the single-digit figures.
The State-wide figure of attendance is around 3.61 lakh workers whereas the average daily figure was 11.6 lakh in May 2019. What is to be kept in mind is that not more than one-third of the required workers is permitted to work at sites of the MGNREGS, as per the State government’s order of April 23.
Explaining why Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam differ from most of the districts in the State, S. Ranganathan, a Mannargudi-based leader of farmers, says the presence of a large number of landless workers is the primary reason. In his estimation, this category constitutes 40% of the population in the districts. During off-season, the MGNREGS provides a great source of livelihood opportunities to the workers, who get paid ₹256 per day. In Tirunelveli district, the spread of the virus is confined to a few areas. This may be the key reason for the turnout, says an IAS officer, who has worked in the district for years.
An official at the directorate acknowledges that the element of fear of getting infected by the novel coronavirus is a huge factor for many workers to report to work. “We are not making any deliberate attempt to mobilise people too,” points out the official, expressing the hope that the figure of turnout may go up in the coming weeks.
The official points out that the Centre, in early April, sanctioned ₹1,995 crore under the scheme for the current year, of which a sum of ₹675 crore was disbursed to the workers towards the arrears in wage payment for January-March. For the month of April, the wage bill came to ₹52 crore only.
Also, the Union government has released ₹665 crore to towards material component. The State government paid ₹458 each to all those who came to work in March - 26.8 lakh workers - as an incentive in view of the lockdown, which cost around ₹123 crore to the exchequer.