In Toomda village near Bhopal, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) is synonymous with “koop nirman”, roughly translated as digging wells.
As many as 20 out of 25 NREGP projects this year were devoted to digging wells for villagers — a result of the state government’s efforts to link more farm and irrigation-related works with NREGP. The serious water shortage in the village is the reason for the primacy given to digging wells.
The move has paid rich dividends. A total of 1,483 job card holders in the village have been earning Rs 85-91 a day under the project. It’s helping in many other ways, too. For example, Atmaram of Ayyapur village owns six acres of land and a tractor. He and his family members are now NREGP workers, as they are digging a well funded under NREGP. The job which will cost Rs 1.34 lakh will provide the entire family money to pay for labour charges for their farm work, as well as a water source for their fields.
Not everybody, however, is as excited to work for NREGP projects. For example, construction work on the outskirts of the state capital fetches higher wages. Triveni Singh, a mason in Toomda, said NREGP should pay at least Rs 250 a day. Singh does not have a job card and has been earning a living doing masonry, earning Rs 250 a day at construction sites. For him, the proposal to increase the minimum wage under NREGP from the existing Rs 91 to Rs 100 is not lucrative enough.
Others have different problems. Some villagers complained that often after assessment, the workers got wages as low as Rs 30, depending on the quantity of work done.
Another big area of concern is that workers have to open bank accounts to get their payments. Banks generally insist on a deposit of Rs 500 and a minimum balance of Rs 500 before opening such accounts. This discourages many.
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Than Singh, a PWD worker, said earlier he worked for an NREGP project, but left as he wanted cash when his work was over. “I want my money when work is over. I get Rs 100-110 working for PWD. My wife is also working here.”
So far, a total of 5.5 million accounts under the scheme have been opened in a state which has more than 10 million job card holders.
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