Chatrapur: Ganjam has made it again! With less than one and half months remaining for the completion of the current financial year, the District administration has made a remarkable progress and created an all time record of providing maximum persondays under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). With accelerated thrust on generating livelihoods in the rural areas, more than 2 crore persondays have been created – highest since the scheme was launched in 2006. The district administration has spent Rs 400 Crore for the creation of this huge livelihood generation program.
It was a big challenge for the Ganjam district administration as large number of migrant workers (highest in the State) from across the country returned to their villages as a fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Managing their return and providing livelihood support to them was a herculean task that the district administration achieved successfully.
As on 12th February 2021, a record 1,13, 733 Scheduled Caste households have been provided wage employment and 35,47, 912 persondays have been generated by the SC workers. Similarly, 12,67, 778 persondays have been generated for the more vulnerable section I.e., Schedule Tribes under the MGNREGS. Likewise, 30,287 STs have been engaged in different projects.
Special focus was also given to increase the women’s participation in the flagship scheme. As a result, persondays generated by women under MGNREGS touched 1.093 crore which is little more than 50% of the total persondays generated.
These numbers are expected to jump manifold by the end of the current financial year.
The district not only focused on taking up large number of projects to provide employment, it also flexed its muscles to complete the projects so that durable and sustainable projects can be created. The district has completed 17, 117 projects during the current financial year.
The focus was on more labour intensive work to create durable and sustainable community projects that included Rural connectivity, Culvert, Renovation of Tanks, Canals, Model Tanks, Check dams, Playgrounds, Cremation grounds, AWC buildings, Rural Parks, Counter Trench, Straggled Trench and Rural Libraries among others.
Besides, the district administration has also stressed to improve the livelihood support of the vulnerable through MGNREGS. It took up and completed individual beneficiary projects like Cattle sheds, Dug well, Fodder cultivation, Mo-upakari bagicha, Poultry shed, Land Development, Vermi/Nadep compost pits, Recharge pits, Soak pits, Multipurpose farm ponds and Field bounding which would result in additional income to the people.
The exponential increase in persondays generated under MGNREGS in the district during 2020-21 can be correlated to the COVID-19 situation in the country where there was a large-scale reverse migration to the rural parts of the country from cities and towns.
Since Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand-driven program, the district has also taken step to create awareness about the entitlements and participatory NRM planning processes. Speaking to thenewsroom.co.in about the achievement, Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency, Ganjam, said “We are happy that we could help people find employment during the Covid crisis. We are focusing on livelihood generating assets like cow hostels, Poultries, mushroom cultivation, dug wells and farm ponds.”
With little less than 1.5 months left for the current fiscal to end, the district administration is aiming to generate 2.5 Crore persondays. “Our aim is to reach 2.5 cr persondays this year,” added Dattatraya Bhausaheb.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act also known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was enacted in 2005. It guarantees 100 days of wage employment (manual unskilled work) to the members of any rural household every year. MGNREGA is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the State Government.
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