VIJAYAWADA: After standing first in the country in terms of generating person days, the state is witnessing a decline in the number of workers turning up for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as agriculture operations gained pace because of bountiful rains.
The number of workers attending the MGNREGS works, which stood at more than 50 lakh per day at one point of time, has dropped to around eight lakh in August. Admitting that there is a sharp fall in the number of workers opting for MGNREGS works, Commissioner (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department) M Girija Shankar told The New Indian Express that 19 crore person days have been generated so far against the target 21 crore for the 2020-21 fiscal. Despite a decline in workers turning up for MGNREGS works, Andhra Pradesh is still ahead next to Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, he added.
“It is natural that the copious rainfall will give pace to agriculture operations in the State thereby affecting the MGNREGS works every year. This is normal. By summer, we have completed 90 per cent of the annual target for the MGNREGS. However, the lockdown had an adverse impact on the MGNREGS works in April and we felt that it would be a Herculean task for us to reach the target this fiscal,” an official of the department said.
The official said that the number was 14.95 crore in 2017-18 (from April to July), 14.53 crore in 2018-19, 13.74 crore in 2019-20 and 19 crore in the current fiscal.
Except Nellore, Kurnool and West Godavari districts, which performed less than 80 per cent of the target, he said all the remaining districts performed well. Chittoor, Vizianagaram, Anantapur, Krishna, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam districts have achieved over 100 per cent target, he added.
Stating that they have shifted focus on the plantation drive, he said about one crore saplings would be planted by the department in villages.