GADAG: To discourage migration of villagers, officials in charge of implementing works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), are going door-to-door, gathering information from villagers regarding their job preference.
This initiative has attracted many people, who in turn have told their friends and family about it. The gram panchayat staff have placed a box in the GP office premise, where villagers can drop a chit with their preferred job within October 30. After this, a plan for the year will be chalked out.
Suresh Myageri, a daily wage worker from Naragund, said, “We are happy to get jobs like this. If we are employed in our own villages, we will not think of moving to a different district or city. After hearing the news of continuous work opportunities for a year, some migrants from Goa, Bengaluru and Mangaluru are also returning and applying for job cards.”
An official from Gadag Zilla Panchayat said, “We want most of the villagers back. Now that most of them are, they got work under the MGNREGA. We want to retain them and attract others who went to other cities.”