Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123060010600.htm

Karnataka

Irregularities in job scheme in Hyderabad Karnataka Rural job scheme

Bageshree S.

Several cases of people being discouraged from applying for jobs

Applicants are entitled to at least 100 days of work at Rs. 82 a day
Despite NREGS, rural migration hasn’t stopped in the region

Bangalore: There is no dearth of funds in Deodurg in Raichur district if the rate of spending by candidates in the byelections is anything to go by. But beyond what is offered to them in return for their votes, there is neither work nor funds for most poor people in the constituency, even though the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is officially in force here and all applicants are entitled to at least 100 days of work at Rs. 82 a day.

Hanumegowda Madarakal of Palakanamaradi gram panchayat in Deodurg explains the ingenuous ways in which funds sanctioned for the scheme is siphoned off by the powers that be, though the scheme comes with provisions meant precisely to prevent misappropriation.

“Two hundred people had applied for jobs in our panchayat. But instead of giving them work, relatives and friends of panchayat members were given job cards, and post office accounts were opened in their names. This made it easy for them to share the money among them,” he says. There has been some improvement in about 10 to 15 panchayats in Deodurg after landless labourers and small farmers got together and staged protests, he adds.

The story of NREGS is similar at Gowramma Patil’s Kerebogya village in Gulbarga district. Work meant to be completed under NREGS with manual labour is either left undone or finished using JCBs. “Then panchayat people open accounts in the names of their relatives and appropriate huge sums of money,” she says.

“Even when there is work, funds are not provided on time,” she adds. As a result, rural migration has not stopped in Hyderabad-Karnataka area, one of the poorest regions in Karnataka, despite NREGS. “People migrate to Mumbai and Pune in large numbers,” says Ms. Patil.

Lingappa Anwal of Gangavati in Koppal district points out that there are other kinds of violations, including not giving equipment to workers, though it is mandated under the scheme.

K. Hulagesh of Harapanahalli adds that the panchayat members themselves often discourage people from applying under the scheme and then say people are not interested. “That is because the ‘cuts’ they get is not too good and there are procedural complications,” he says.

Durgappa and Huligamma from Anegondi in Koppal district say that they had applied for jobs under the scheme nine months ago, but no work has been given to them yet, though the rules of the scheme say that anyone who applies should get work within 15 days or be given an unemployment dole of Rs. 41.

The cited reason for the failure of the scheme in some parts, such as Kodagu, has been that the Rs. 82 a day wage is too low. But for the likes of Ms. Huligamma in Hyderbad-Karnataka region, even this is a huge sum.

“I get a maximum of Rs. 30 per day if I work in the field of a landowner. Why would I refuse work for Rs. 82?” she asks. After a pause she adds, pointing to her food: “Or make do with these dry jowar rotis and chilli powder for lunch.”