At Dungar,a village of 5,000 households in Fatehpura taluka of Dahod,farmers have had to pawn their lands to pay labourers who worked with them on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) projects as the government is yet to release the funds. This village is about seven kilometres away from Rajasthan on one side and Fatehpura on the other. For Makna Thavra Bhabhor (62) (roster number: 067743,052354) a resident of Khajuri Falia,the well he dug up to compensate for the water supply for at least 15 families this summer,has become a burden. He said: There was no other alternative but to pawn the land for Rs 27,000 to Wagjibhai Nathubhai Garachia and sell two of my oxen for Rs 12,000. Otherwise I couldnt have paid the labourers who worked here. Bhabhor said he is yet to get Rs 62,220 for the six weeks (five day week) of work done by 30 labourers. Bhabhor is not a one-off case. As many as 3,385 farmers both farmer-contractors and labourers here are facing the same predicament as authorities are yet to make the payments. According to a complaint forwarded to the Dahod District Development Officials by the Dahod district NREGA Workers Union these people have not been paid even a rupee for more than two years now,allegedly due to the rampant corruption in the local administrative machinery. The malaise applies to other villages too,but the farmers of Dungar are the worst hit,despite the fact that this village belongs to Dahod Congress MP Dr Prabha Taviyad. As many as 1,800 wells were dug in the taluka as the farmers were not sure about the groundwater level. After the monsoons,the farmers bought explosives (legally or otherwise) and engaged groups of labourers numbering between 24 and 30 to extricate hard quartzite rocks. Often they bribed the government officials to get their orders passed. Bhabhor said even getting the NREGSA work for the community well was not easy. He said had to cough up Rs 11,500 on July 2008 allegedly to a Taluka Development officer. He said he filed an affidavit (Registration no: 222/10 on February 23,2010 against the official at the local district court. I used to visit him and the village postmaster everyday to inquire about my payments. They told us that the roster bearing the names of all the labourers has been lost,so no money will be paid to us. Therefore I filed an affidavit, said Bhabhor. Interestingly,of the 12 members of his family,his four sons stay with him only for six months as they work in Junagadh and Sabarkantha as migrant farm labourers. Every year,my sons stay away from home for six months,when they could work with me on the well. But,now with the corruption at the local level and non-payment of the dues,I cannot ask them to work for this scheme. The scheme is good,but only if the officials understand its importance, Babhor added. Lavabhai Hirabhai Garachia said he shelled out Rs 32,000 for explosives to dig up quartzite. Four hundred small holes were drilled through which powdered ammonia nitrate was squeezed into orifices to make a large crater with an explosion. I never thought I would have to mortgage my one-and-a-half acre plot for Rs 82,000 to Samjibhai Bhurabhai Garachia to pay the labourers. I was the one who engaged them in this work. We worked together on the well. Slowly during the social gatherings,they started discussing about the non-payment. I couldnt wait and distributed the money I received after leasing out the land, said Lavabhai. He said he was paid about Rs 32,000 for arranging the explosives,adding that he is unsure whether the explosives were legal or not. He said till date,the authorities owe him Rs 2.5 lakh. Champabhai Haklabhai Pargi,another farmer,said he pawned about half-an-acre for Rs 65,000 to Kamlesh Damor so he could pay Rs 45,000 to 24 labourers who worked on the well. Dahod District Development Officer (DDO) Ashish Thakkar said the district association is aware of the issue and had seized the rosters of the NREGS works from Fatehpura Taluka Development Office on January 27,2010 for examination. Fatehpura is full of discrepancies. We are probing the issue. It seems only 600 of the 1,800 wells have water. We received the funds from the Centre yesterday,which will be disbursed before Holi, said Thakkar. He,however,refused to disclose the amount,saying that Fatehpura has several unscrupulous people who could take advantage. If you consider 30,000 workers for NREGS in Dahod alone,taking Rs 80 as the minimum,we will have to shell out Rs 24 lakh a day, Thakkar added.
