As Assembly elections began in Naxal-hit areas in Chhattisgarh, a report of the Central Employment Guarantee Council in the Union rural development ministry has accused the state government of not making any attempt to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the Naxal-infested areas as well as areas which were not affected by the Naxal violence in Dantewada.
The report, authored by council member and economist Jean Dreze, recommends roping in the forest department to implement the NREG programme in Naxal-dominated areas in future.
“Most of the people I met had never heard of the NREG Act (NREGA), and knew nothing about their entitlements under the Act. This is shocking, considering that the Act has been in force in this area for almost three years. Awareness levels in Dantewada were so low that it is hard not to attribute them to an intentional attempt to ‘keep people in the dark’, so that they don’t make inconvenient demands on the local administration or question the possible embezzlement of NREGA funds in the area,” Dreze says.
Dreze, whose visit was confined to one block of Bheramgarh in Dantewada district in late September, says that the NREGA can be seen as a positive opportunity to create a new rapport between the state and the people in these areas, based on constructive work. “From this brief visit, it appears that very little has been done to seize this opportunity,” he points out, adding that the government had not bothered to create any awareness about NREGA in the area.
He says there were wall writings in Bheramgarh on schooling and education but none on NREGA. As for the working of the scheme which is supposed to be there for the last three years, Dreze found that some have never seen or heard of a job card, some are yet to get, while most people have surrendered their cards to village chieftains. In other words, no one in Dantewada was in possession of a job card. “During these three days, we did not meet a single person who was in possession of the job card (except in the Nelasnar relief camp). It appeared that hoarding of job cards allegedly by gram panchayat heads and others had been common.
“This is a very pernicious practice, which needs to be stopped immediately,” the report says.