Employment generated by the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has come down by 1.16 crore person days for the first six months of the financial year 2021-22 when compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, clocking a 10 % reduction.
An analysis carried out by Libtech India has noted that only 11.73 crore person days of employment has been provided between April and October this year, vis-a-vis the 12.89 crore person days for the same period last year.
All the districts in the State except eight have recorded a reduction in the number of person days, the study said. Kamareddy recorded the highest number of person days, but with lower employment generation than last year. Nalgonda district, with 83 lakh person days, has generated more employment in the current financial year compared to the last two financial years.
Mahbubabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Jogulamba Gadwal, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, and Hanmakonda were the other districts which have recorded higher employment.
Jayashankar Bhupalpally has the highest number of panchayats where employment generated was less than half the State’s average person days, the study noted. Six districts have almost 10 % panchayats falling into this category.
Meanwhile, two NGOs — Dalita Bahujan Front and Upadhi Hami Phone Radio — the parent organisation of Libtech India, have addressed a letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, urging him to seek enhanced budget allocation from the Central government for the NREGS, and also to increase the funding from the State government.
While the actual demand and need for work has increased on the ground, the programme has run out of funds mid way through the year, they noted. More than 90 % of the Central budget allocation for the programme has already been exhausted with five months still remaining in the current financial year. The situation at State level is grimmer, with about 97 % of the allocated budget having been spent. Only ₹ 120 crore of the allocated funds remain unspent, they pointed out.
Further, the letter sought provision of at least 150 days of work for each job card-holding household, and reinstatement of field assistants.
Chief Ministers of Orissa and Rajasthan have already written to the Central government on the issue, the letter signed by P.Shankar from DBF and Venkateshwarlu Kuruva from Upadhi Hami Phone Radio added.
