CHENNAI: For the residents of three panchayats under the Puzhal Union in Tiruvallur District, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has become an integral part of their livelihood, but small industries situated there are wooing people from across Tamil Nadu and nearby Andhra Pradesh in search of cheap labour.
The panchayats of Vadagarai, Grandline and Achampakkam form a major part of the Puzhal Union, due to the high concentration of residents and the number of rice mills, timber depots, plastic and bottle companies.
In 2004, people working allegedly as bonded labour in rice mills were released and that led to huge losses for the rice mill owners. When companies were looking for alternative labour within the panchayats they found no takers. “They were offering us very low wages and in some cases told us that they will pay us in rice bags depending on the work we finish. Some even considered taking it as we had to go far in search of work’’, explains Velu, a resident of the Grandline panchayat.
But the NREGS scheme came to their rescue. For 100 days in a year a person was given work like laying roads, digging canals or desilting lakes. “The demand is so high. In a village that has only 1,200 residents, we had over 100 people working with us at any given time,’’ says Bharathi, panchayat president, Vadagarai.
This did have an adverse effect on the industries, including rice mills. “After the exodus, most mills in the area had only two options. Mechanise the mills so that there is hardly any need of labour or close the mills. While bigger mills managed the transition over the years, even after five years only 20 mills in the area are completely mechanised. Smaller ones still survive by bringing people from Nellore or from Cuddalore, Kancheepruam, and Tiruvannamalai districts,’’ said N Nandagopal, who runs Balamurugan rice mill.
In these three panchayats alone over 10 mills have been converted into godowns or garages. “This did mean loss of jobs for the people. But the people are very clever. They examined the options and worked accordingly. In Grandline panchayat, where MBCs and BCs dominate, only women worked in NREGS while the men went to Ambattur and T Nagar for their jobs. In other panchayats, where Adi Dravidars dominate, men formed the majority to work in the NREGS system.
Since NREGS plays an important role, residents in these panchayats are eagerly looking at the elections to see if the number of working days allowed per person will be increased. That, they say will decide in a political party’s favour.
