PALAKKAD: Women have been breaking the glass ceiling in every perceivable area of activity, above ground, on land... and even below it. In Vallapuzha grama panchayat alone, women MNREGA workers have dug 35 wells in the last three months. These are the same people who were once engaged in transplanting paddy saplings, removing weeds and harvesting.
Times have changed and with many areas facing a drought-like situation in the summer and drinking water shortages, digging of wells has become inevitable. And with women becoming adept in this activity, beneficiaries need not scout for skilled workers either.
MNREGA women workers have dug 1,578 wells in the district in the last two financial years.“We plan to increase the level of groundwater by digging wells. Vallapuzha faces drinking water shortages in the summer. In the last three months, women here have dug 35 wells. In 2023-24, we plan to dig 75 wells,” said N K Abdul Latheef, president of the grama panchayat.
It was in 2017 that Pookottukavu panchayat, with a population of just 18,000, drew accolades when its women dug 190 new wells in six months under the MNREGA scheme. It was in the master circular issued by the Centre in 2016 that new conditions were imposed where workers cannot repeat the same work year after year in the same place. So, new avenues had to be located and with women ready to dig wells local bodies found that the MNREGA scheme would help ease the drinking water shortage.
“Ours was the first local body in the state to take up the work of digging wells on a massive scale to combat drought,” says K Jayadevan, former president of Pookottukavu panchayat.
“Once a male bastion, there was initial reluctance to take up the work of digging wells. Later, as the number of women workers swelled to 300 nearly 190 wells were dug in one year. Now there were fewer applications for wells as most of the panchayat has been covered and the beneficiaries are selected based on their economic condition. If there are deserving petitions from individuals, wells are dug up for them even now,” he adds.
With an increasing demand for drinking water from various parts of the district, the workers, mostly women had dug up 687 wells in 2020-21 and 891 wells in 2022-23, said K P Velayudhan, joint programme coordinator of the MNREGA scheme.
Alanallur panchayat had the most number of wells dug both in 2020-21 (132) and 2021-22 (135). In 2020-21 it was followed by Agali (44), Vaniyamkulam (44), Anakkara (35), Puthuppariyaram (28), Chalissery and Kululkallur (25 each), and Koduvayur and Sreekrishnapuram (21 each). In 2022-23, Alanallur was followed by Thiruvegapura (58), Vaniyamkulam (49), Chalissery (47), Thenkara (43), Kottopadam (36), and Kulukallur and Thrithala (34 each).