KURNOOL: With the monsoon playing truant, nearly 80% of standing Kharif crops in Kurnool have withered and as a result farm workers have been rendered jobless. The district has received 302.04 mm rainfall in 26 mandals this season against the normal rainfall of 401.30 mm during the monsoon. Many mandals have reeled under extended duration of dry spells, affecting the growth of Kharif crops.
As there has been no generation of enough mandays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), farm workers have no option except migrating to neighbouring cities like Bengaluru, Bellary, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guntur and other places in search of work to support their families.
According to an unofficial estimate, about 1,000 families from Kosigi, Mantralayam, Nandavaram, Kowtalam, Aspari, Devanakonda, Alur, Peddakadubur, Pathikonda, Chippagiri, Halaharvi, Belagal, Kodumur and Gonegandla mandals have migrated to other places in search of livelihood and another 10,000 people are likely to migrate after Dasara.
It is not just farm workers, but even small and marginal farmers are finding it difficult to face the drought like situation, especially in Adoni and Pathikonda revenue divisions. The rise in cost of living and low family income have forced them to look for alternative sources of livelihood.
H Hussani, a BSc BEd graduate from Arlabanda in Kosigi mandal, who is unemployed said, “At least 65 families from my village have migrated to Hyderabad and Guntur in a span of one week. About 10 families are set to leave the village as they have already hired trucks to migrate to the neighbouring city in search of livelihood. My family is also planning to migrate to Guntur in the coming days.”
The government has given jobs cards to 2.57 lakh families and 4,71,934 people have been covered under MGNREGA. But less than one lakh people are utilising the job cards. As per October 18 records, 6,239 wage seekers have attended the works across the district and just 2,461 people have completed their quota of 100 days work under MGNREGA of the total 4.71 lakh job cord holders. The trend shows the waning interest in MGNREGA, which is aimed at preventing migration from rural areas.
Speaking to TNIE, District Water Management Agency (DWMA) Project Director Amarnath Reddy said, “All officials have been strictly instructed to provide jobs to all the wage seekers in the district under NREGA. However, the people who are not interested in MGNREGA works, are migrating to other places in search of livelihood. Migrations have been observed largely in Alur, Aspari, Kosigi, Halaharvi and other mandals of Adoni division. We will intensify the awareness drive on MGNREGA to prevent migrations.”