With low wages, Andhra has few takers for job scheme

Low wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme have turned the rural poor in Andhra Pradesh away from the scheme.

According to K Sreedevi, the sarpanch of Yadagirigutta village in Nalgonda district, NREGP job-card holders are paid Rs 40 while workers get up to Rs 150 per day for other work. Sreedevi was here to attend a conference on use of IT for rural development.

"The payment is based on assessment by officials from the panchayati raj department at the Block level. According to their valuation, the villagers are not getting enough. The summer wage could be as low as Rs 20," Sreedevi said.

"While around 400 people used to come for work under the scheme at the time it was launched, the number has come down to 100-120," Sreedevi said.

"The demand for manual labour is increasing in our place. Without migrating to places like Warangal or Hyderabad, if people are getting around Rs 150 for a day's work within the village, why would they work for Rs 40?," she says.

The situation is similar in Bhoodanpochampalli village of the district which is just 40 kms away from the state capital. Sarpanch T Latha said the rural poor were paid up to Rs 80 in her village. "But even here, the demand for work under the scheme is coming down because of the high wages outside," Latha said.

Yadagirigutta has more than 10,000 people and 1,100 job-card holders. Around 1,000 below poverty line families did not get the cards, the sarpanch admitted. "Till now, only Rs four lakh has been disbursed under the programme," Sreedevi said.

In Bhoodanpochampalli, with a population of 15,000, around 900 households have got the job cards. The fund utilisation is around Rs five lakh.

Minister of Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, however, rates the state as a good performer.

"Andhra is performing very well in NREGP with good utilisation of funds and initiatives like social audits for transparency," Singh said at a recent meeting to review the scheme.