KOLKATA: The West Bengal government’s plan to generate employment for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job cardholders in the state is yet to kickstart as a majority of state government departments are struggling to initiate labour-intensive projects due to lack of funds.
According to a recent report, around 75,000 cardholders were engaged in jobs for a total of 11,27,219 man-days that were created till May 2 in this fiscal. “The figures suggest the progress is not at all satisfactory under the initiative to provide jobs to those who used to depend on the 100-day rural employment guarantee scheme to earn their livelihood,” said an official of the state government.
Bengal has about 1.4 crore active job cardholders. Sources in Nabanna, the state secretariat said, out of a total of 4,082 projects, where job cardholders were engaged, the Panchayat department alone initiated 4,015 schemes under the Pathasree programme.
“But other departments like agriculture, municipal affairs and urban development, forest, public works and irrigation which have opportunities to initiate labour-intensive schemes could not even start,” said another official of the state government.
“Agriculture department initiated 16 schemes and the forest department started 14 schemes. But the departments of public works and irrigation could initiate one and two schemes respectively. The majority of the departments which have the potential to engage more job cardholders could not initiate enough schemes,” said the official.
Explaining the reason, the official said the panchayat department could generate 4,000 odd schemes as it was allotted a sum of Rs 3,000 crore to undertake the Pathasree programme under which 12,000 rural roads will be either built or repaired.
“But all other departments don’t have enough funds to initiate large projects involving job cardholders,” he added. A senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress said the state government wanted to provide jobs under the MGNREGA as much as possible eyeing the panchayat elections scheduled to be held this year. “But the fund crunch situation of different departments resulted in the poor show in the rural employment guarantee scheme. We fear an adverse impact of it in rural pockets in the panchayat elections,” he said.