BHUBANESWAR : People with disabilities (PwDs) seeking work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will be identified in a campaign mode and provided job cards by the end of this month.
In a letter to all collectors, the department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) asked them to include all eligible and willing PwDs under the employment guarantee scheme by May 31. Besides, the collectors have also been asked to form village-level Divyang Shakti Groups that would comprise all MGNREGS workers with disabilities, by June 30.
Aiming at financial security for all vulnerable groups of people, the Panchayati Raj department had last month asked collectors to bring PwDs, primitive and nomadic tribal groups, denotified tribes, women in special circumstances, senior citizens above 65 years of age, HIV positive people and internally displaced persons, under MGNREGA.
As far as PwDs are concerned, persons (aged 18 and beyond) with benchmark disabilities, the severity of which is 40 per cent and above, will be considered as a special category of vulnerable persons for MGNREGA. Differently-abled persons as defined in the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 are also to be considered as disabled for inclusion under the scheme.
As per the census-2011, Odisha has a population of 12.44 lakh differently-abled people. While MGNREGA aims to provide employment to all rural adults, the participation of differently-abled persons, including women, in the state’s MGNREGA programme remains relatively low. The percentage of participation of PwDs in MGNREGS in the state stands at 0.3 per cent.
According to the reports of the Ministry of Rural Development, this year 2,892 PwDs have sought and been provided MGNREGS work in the state. The number of PwD workers in the state under the scheme has only come down in the last five years, from 18,134 in 2021-22 to 10,988 in 2024-2025.
The gram rozgar sevaks will survey all households whose adult PwD members volunteer to do unskilled manual work under MGNREGS. Director of SSEPD, Niyati Pattnaik said every gram panchayat will form Divyang Shakti groups in every village, with PwDs who are capable of working under the scheme. The workers with disabilities can work as part of the Divyang Shakti group or as an individual.
While the government has mandated creche at all worksites under MGNREGS for parents whose children suffer from intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, multiple disabilities and severe disabilities, a woman with disability will be appointed as ‘ayah’ for the facility. After the woman completes 100 days of work, another woman with disability will be appointed for the same position.