Punjab: They lost jobs to pandemic, find hope, livelihood in 100-day MGNREGA scheme
Currently, 1.65 lakh workers are on job daily under the scheme as on date and the government plans to take this figure to 2.10 lakh daily across the state.
The 100 days job guarantee can be extended to 150 days in case of natural calamity or drought-like conditions. (Representational)
In a pandemic-hit economy, the national rural employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGA) has come to the rescue of many left without jobs in the state over the last few months.
Pargan Singh (45) and Mangat Ram (42) from Kapurthala’s Bahui village are among many who have signed up under the scheme recently and got their job cards made.
Singh, who studied till Class 10, was doing clerical work with a private office at the local grain market in Kapurthala until he lost his job amid to the outbreak.
After being jobless for three months, he recently got a MNREGA job card made and now has minimum of 100 days of employment guaranteed in a calendar year. Across the state 28,687 households were issued new job cards in past three months, majority of them in June.
Mangat Ram (42) too worked in a private firm, and met the same fate as Pargan. He is also a MGNREGA worker today. There are similar stories across villages in the state. Interestingly in the month of June, Kapurthala district alone has registered 1,430 new MNREGA workers and provided them job cards.
“I had never thought of working under MGNREGA, but at this moment it is the safest scheme under which one gets at least a guaranteed job for 100 days,” said Pargan, adding that during the lockdown his firm refused to support him financially.
As the process of Unlock began in June, the scheme has seen a 40 per cent rise in person-days recorded in the state compared to the same month last year – indicating a high demand rural jobs. Person-days are number of individuals working on any day under the scheme multiplied by the number of days they have worked.
Further, given the current economic situation, the financial target for work to be executed in the state under the scheme has also been doubled from last financial year to Rs 1,500 crore in 2020-21.
Currently, 1.65 lakh workers are on job daily under the scheme as on date and the government plans to take this figure to 2.10 lakh daily across the state.
In fact, the Unlock period since June 1 has seen huge demand of work under the scheme with government issuing new job cards in every district. The state also says that all specially-abled people will be given a job card in rural areas in every district.
According to data sourced from the state’s Department Rural Development and Panchayats, from April to June around 48.10 lakh person-days were generated in the state out of which over 17.17 lakh days were generated in April and May months when there was complete lockdown. Remaining over 30 lakh employment days were generated in the June alone. In June 2019, 21.78 lakh employment days were generated during the June which means around 9lakh fewer employment days as compared to this year in June.
Overall in the first three months of the last financial year, 59.41 lakh person-days were generated, out of which 37.63 lakh person-days were generated in April and May.
In June this year after the Unlock began, 2.77 lakh households were given employment in the state against 2.57 lakh households last year. That is around 20,120 more households this year for the first month of Unlock.
Similarly, Punjab’s June expenditure under MGNREGA has also been recorded at Rs 113.60 crore against Rs 69.11 crore last year in the same month — around Rs 44.49 crore more.
Joint Development Commissioner Rural Development Manpreet Singh Chhatwal said: “Last financial year the total work under MGNREGA was executed to the tune of Rs 767.34 crore, but this year’s target has recently been fixed at Rs 1500 crore, which is almost double of the last year’s budget.” He added that apart from individual works like making cattle sheds, dairy farm buildings, now institutional works are also being taken up under this scheme.
“In institutional works, MGNREGA workers will repair the dilapidated boundary walls of the government school buildings, will construct the rainwater harvesting projects and gardens in the schools, while 750 playgrounds are being made — five each in every block of the state, which has 150 blocks. In these playgrounds, a basketball court and running track is being created depending upon the availability of the land. The work on 133 playgrounds has already begun in the state,” said Chhatwal, adding that the process of making new job cards will continue through the year.
Sarpanch Jagjit Singh of Lallian Khurad village in Jalandhar said that in his village they have got several works done under MGNREGA like filling of the village pond, plantation, construction of roads, cattle, and dairy sheds, sewer work and now the construction of a park on the land of village pond is in the pipeline.
“But the only problem we are facing the delay of payments where the material is also involved in any project,” he said.
Chhatwal clarified: “We are going to create a corpus of Rs 200 crore under which the payment of material would be considered because the labour money is directly transferred in the accounts of workers by the central government while the funds required for material like cement, sand etc. are reimbursed at the completion of the project and supplier gets restless. With this fund we could pay advance money to the supplier of material and then the government would claim it from the Center.”
Punjab so far has 18.28 lakh job cards, out of which 10.81 lakhs are active currently. The scheme guarantees 100-day employment, so everyone is not employed at the same time, but as per availability of approved projects.
Now, vast number of activities can be taken under MGNREGA including work related to agriculture, constructions of parks, roads, livestock-related works, rural sanitation, solid and liquid waste management, flood management, among others. Projects under MGNREGA have two components labour and material, with a rider that labour must be at least 60 per cent with the balance being material.
The 100 days job guarantee can be extended to 150 days in case of natural calamity or drought-like conditions.
MGNREGA TO THE RESCUE
40% — Rise in person-days in June compared to last year
Rs 1500 cr – State’s target for projects under scheme this year
1.65 lakh — Workers employed daily as on date
2.10 lakh – Govt target for daily worker count across state
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