British High Commissioner Alexander Ellis listening, Jharkhand village shares its problems

Number of active workers ie who have been active in the last three to four years (Village level data not available):
Jharkhand: 47.76 lakh; Khunti: 88000; Dahu Panchayat (under which Goilkera falls): 1344. (Source: NREGA website)

Ellis and Low are in Jharkhand to ‘gain insights’ on how climate change is impacting the lives and livelihoods of villagers and tribal communities, and how schemes such as MGNREGA can help alleviate distress migration.

With Chief Minister Hemant Soren, he is scheduled to launch a new tool JHAR-CRISP – funded and formulated by UK agencies – in Ranchi. The tool is a mobile and web-based Geographical Information System (GIS) to support planning, implementation and monitoring of the MGNREGA scheme. The tool, currently operational in some other states, will be employed in five districts to begin with. PHIA Foundation, an NGO which works on rural distress and livelihood, is the implementation partner.

Goilkera, under Dahu Panchayat of Rani block, is a remote village with a population of around 500 belonging to the Munda tribe. Most villagers are engaged in agriculture, wage labour and minor forest produce.

Xavier Horo, a psychology graduate, who works as a farmer in his village Goir under Sade Panchayat, 15 kilometres from Goilkera, complained that electricity didn’t reach his village despite several applications. “There is no electricity in my village and we are also not getting kerosene oil under the PDS; how do we educate our children under these conditions? We don’t even get mobile network reception, so how do we enable online education for our children.” To this, Ranjan said an application to the DC office will ensure a transformer is installed.

Jeevan Jairam Kaldona, who works as an insurance agent and claims to be a social activist, told the gathering there were just two teachers for 150 students in Goilkera Upgraded Middle School. “Most days, one of the teachers is busy with preparation of the electoral rolls. This is worrisome. If good education is given to our children, then there will be employment which will stop distress migration,” he said.

Another villager, Marshal Munda, who spoke in Mundari language (translated to English for the High Commissioner) said students complete college education but don’t get jobs. MGNREGA implementation was a big concern for many. Kaldona said, “At the ground level, the implementation is very poor. People don’t get money on time which is why there is distress migration.”

The state government has maintained that MGNREGA turned out to be a life saver for many people in rural areas after they returned home during the lockdowns. Responding to the group, DC Ranjan said, “This is a technical problem and this needs to be resolved. Otherwise, this is an embarrassment to us and to you also.”

The lack of rainfall in the sowing season has impacted farmers across Jharkhand as rain-fed paddy remains the key crop. Jharkhand has been reeling under drought with the worst ever rainfall between June 1 to August 15 since 1901. The state has recently assessed all matrices for the drought and found out that 97 blocks out of 260 meet the drought-like situation.

A source in the department said that lack of timely payment has been an issue and this has been taken up with the Centre.

Chandravati, who works as Block Resource Person for Social Development at JSLPS, Jharkhand government’s agency under Rural Development Department for livelihood promotion, said irregular rainfall has taken a toll on the farmers. “This time, it was different and they undertook sowing very late… Many farmers have not paid their land tax and they have not received the receipt which the government is asking for to process the application for relief,” she told the gathering. To this, DC Ranjan said, “One can get it done through the mukhiya.”