JAIPUR: The launch of programmes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) evoked tremendous enthusiasm in all the six districts identified for implementation in Rajasthan on Thursday. The excitement among the rural population, especially the tribals, was comparable to the one witnessed on a voting day, eyewitness accounts reaching here said.

"Fantastic response," Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), who was among a group of activists who toured Bhichiwara, Dungarpur and Sagwara blocs in south Rajasthan's Dungarpur district said on telephone. "We found hundreds of villagers thronging the panchayat bhavans and attending gram sabhas for the purpose of getting their names registered. Some of them carried job cards, which resembled ration cards," he said.

The situation was similar in the neighbouring Udaipur district where the programme was launched with a State- level function. Reports from other four districts— Banswara, Jhalawar, Karauli and Sirohi— indicated a similar public response though adequate manpower was found to be lacking to handle the teeming employment seekers.

NREGA holds special significance to Rajasthan as it has been here the right to work— as in the case of Right to Information, which too culminated into a law— campaign had started. It was only natural for the groups like MKSS that pioneered the cause of right to work and the legislation on employment guarantee to feel excited about the day. The other groups who toured various blocs in Dungarpur included Aastha, Jangal Jameen Jan Andolan, Wagad Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan, Campaign for Freedom from Hunger and the Joint Campaign for Right to Employment.

The activists who interacted with the public on the day were somewhat surprised to find a high awareness about the programme.

"The administration has seemingly done some homework," informed Shankar Singh, an MKSS activist. "They have worked out on the number of eligible households in the district and the peak period requirement of jobs. Yet such a massive scheme needed more preparation on the part of the State Government," he noted. In Dungarpur district the administration was offering jobs for 40,000 persons with a promise to increase it by a lakh.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail