Over 2,000 MGNREGS workers sign petition demanding jobs in Nagapattinam
1,725 man-days generated in the first quarter against the 40,000 recorded over the past 3 years, says ex-panchayat president
CHENNAI: Over 2,000 active workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), all natives of Prathabaramapuram panchayat in Nagapattinam's Kilvelur block, have sent registered posts en masse to authorities, demanding jobs under the scheme.
The villagers resorted to this form of protest due to the lack of job opportunities generated under the guaranteed employment scheme, which has been a lifeline for many widows, destitute, and elderly women in the panchayat.
Until a year ago, the panchayats generated an average of 1.5 lakh man-days annually and disbursed wages to the tune of Rs 3 to 4 crore. Prathabaramapuram was the first panchayat to present a labour budget in the country and set a benchmark in the effective implementation of the scheme.
As job guaranteeing under the MGNREG Act is mandatory, and workers have the right to demand employment, they send registered posts to the Block Development Officer along with completed job application forms. According to the Act, authorities are required to register their applications and provide work within 15 days. Failing that, they must pay workers at the rate of one-fourth of the minimum wage (Rs 336 per day) for the first 30 days, and at least one-half of the wage thereafter.
“We are educating the workers in our panchayat that it is their right to demand work under the Act. We helped them file applications seeking jobs,” said former panchayat president RVS Sivarasu. He continued that they were also encouraging the workers in neighbouring panchayats in the district to resort to similar campaigns.
“It (MGNREGA) is our lifeline,” said Sivagami, one of the workers who sent the registered post. Manimegalai, echoing the sentiment, added that they hail from the fishermen community and the wages earned through the scheme support their families. Manimegalai noted they received only 45 days of work last year, and the number of man-days has further declined this year.
“We got more than 70 days of work last fiscal year, but we are yet to receive a single day's work since April this year. When we approach the BDOs, they promise to give us work. But they are only offering it to 20 people for raising a nursery. The remaining 2,100-odd workers remain jobless under the scheme,” said M Sathiya of Prathabaramapuram village.
Workers typically receive at least 90 days of work in a year, and for many destitute and elderly women, the wages are enough to ensure three meals a day. However, they have been struggling over the past six months, as most have not received even a single day of work in the first quarter of the current financial year, Sivarasu said. He noted that officials generated only 1,725 man-days for the 2,156 workers in the panchayat, compared to around 40,000 man-days during the corresponding periods over the past three years.
