NREGA's monkey business

The jobs scheme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) seems to be a godsend when states want to desperately do something and need labour. Take the case of the state that needed to build playgrounds and had the Centre include it in the roster of work allowed under the scheme. Himachal Pradesh Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur mentioned a similarly pressing need while attending the sixth anniversary celebrations of NREGA in Delhi. The state's hillside orchards are constantly being raided by monkeys and there is an acute shortage of people willing to catch them, he said, suggesting that the activity should be included under NREGA. That prompted Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh to joke that he may well include monkey catching under NREGA when it is expanded to include farm-related activities like building storage facilities.