BENGALURU: The Union Government, as part of its economic stimulus package in the backdrop of Covid-19, increased allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by Rs 40,000 crore. While this may seem like a huge fillip to boost the rural economy, the money doesn’t always reach the workers. Ever since the lockdown, demand for work has spiked in rural areas. In 24 hours between May 21 and May 22, employment of 7,92,822 person days were generated in Karnataka.
Since April 1, the state has generated 1.179 crore person days under MGNREGS with 10,934 persons and job cards being added under the scheme, covering a total of 4,342 households across the state. If pledging gold as collateral to raise funds for emergencies has been the last resort of the poor during a financial crisis, bank ATM cards are doubling as the new gold for workers under MGNREGS. Cash-strapped and rendered penniless, the rural poor are depositing their bank debit cards — linked to bank accounts in which wages under MGNREGS are credited — with their ‘mobilisers’ in lieu of advance cash. Wages under MGNREGS take anywhere between 15 and 20 days to be deposited in the workers’ account. For dailywage workers, the wait is impractical and excruciating.
The solution? Pledging their cards for spot cash with people who bring them to work — in most cases panchayat members — who, in turn, give them heavily discounted wages for the day and withdraw the full wages from the workers’ bank accounts when it is credited. “The rural poor have no money and have no option. Handing over their cards to panchayat members or Panchayat Development Officers means they have no control over the wages credited into their accounts. Since they need the money immediately, they accept anything that the ‘feudal lords’ offer.
In many cases, a worker barely gets Rs 100 for a day’s work instead of his entitled wages of Rs 275,” pointed out Maruthi Manpade, president, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha. In the non-agriculture season, farmers as well as agricultural labourers opt for employment under the scheme. Officials in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department are aware of such practices, but surprisingly no complaints are raised about it. “There is a grievances redressal mechanism in place, but only complaints of delayed payments or work not starting are lodged. It is almost like the workers, though not happy, are okay with the arrangement,” said a senior officer in charge of MGNREGS.
MGNREGS: Govt taking measures to remedy oopholes
“It is almost like a parallel economy, a market mechanism if you call it, or a way of solving the problem of delayed payment,” the officer added. The arrangement is akin to agricultural labour — day’s pay for the day’s work. In districts like Raichur, where the rural poor are heavily dependent on the scheme for employment, the rot runs much deeper.
“Many workers do not even have access to their own job cards. The mobilisers, in many cases panchayat officers or contractors who have lost their government tenders due to MGNREGS, hold on to job cards to discourage workers from taking up work or to swindle wages. In cases where a worker doesn’t have an ATM card, they take them to the bank to withdraw the wages and hand over barely a fraction to the worker. In cases where the worker has an ATM card, they withdraw the money directly,” pointed out Abhay of Grameena Kooli Karmikara Sanghatane (GRAKOOS), a labourers’ collective in Raichur.
Government officials confirmed that in most cases, gram panchayat members, whose thumb impression is a must to record the works undertaken, double as super-mobilisers and de-facto contractors. The Karnataka Government, however, says it is taking measures to remedy such loopholes in the system. “We have reduced the time taken to pay wages. If there is money in our account, we pay within 15 days. Our processing time in more than 95 per cent of the cases has been reduced to eight days. We are trying to work with workers’ collectives. We are also creating awareness on wages by heavily advertising that per-day wage under the scheme is Rs 275,” said L K Atheeq, Principal Secretary to the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj department.