Cut in allocation causes sharp decline in mandays under national job scheme in Tiruchi district

The Tiruchi district has reported a sharp decline in man days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) due to decrease in fund allocation

The Tiruchi district has reported a sharp decline in mandays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) due to decrease in fund allocation.

As per the scheme, which is aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of rural households across the country, the enrolled workers should be given at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year. It serves the purpose of strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural workforce.

According to sources, the scheme is being implemented in 404 revenue villages belonging to 14 panchayat unions in the district, and about 4.61 lakh persons in rural areas are engaged. Of them, about three lakh workers are classified as active as they invariably turn up for work.

The officials made it a point to provide at least 100 days of employment until a few years ago. A sum of about ₹22 crore on an average was disbursed every month as payment towards workers. However, the Tiruchi District Rural Development Agency (TDRDA), the nodal agency, has struggled to provide mandatory employment to the workers over the last two to three years. In the 2023-24 fiscal, only about 60 days of employment were provided.

There were apprehension that the number of days of actual employment will go down further this year. As per the report on work-demand pattern, the scheme covered 7,864 and 23,630 households in April and May as against the coverage of 2,36,645 and 2,41,240 households respectively during the same months in 2023-24.

Records show that the number of projected man days has come down significantly since 2021-22. The number of projected man days in 2021-22 was 1,31,30,668. It went down drastically to 79,94,350 man days in 2022-23 and 79,94,350 in 2023-24. It has been reduced to 70,48,045 man days for the current fiscal.

Reacting to the development, Durai Vaiko, Tiruchi MP, told The Hindu that the reduced allocation to the scheme had severely hit the livelihood of workers. It had defeated the purpose of the Act.