JAIPUR: The All-India Kisan Sabha has alleged violation of the provisions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act by the Rajasthan Government in the Adivasi-dominated districts of Dungarpur and Udaipur. Unemployed people in the area are being forced to migrate to other parts of the country in search of jobs due to under payment of wages and the lackadaisical approach by the administration in making the job cards, the farmers' forum, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said.

"The State Government is treating it as a drought relief scheme. The payment is being made on the basis of the work accomplished by a person on a single day," Amra Ram, CPI (M) MLA and newly-elected president of the Rajasthan Committee of the AIKS, said talking to newspersons here over the weekend. "They are making a mockery of the whole Act by paying Rs.35-45 per person per day when the minimum wages is more than double that amount in Rajasthan," he noted.

The charges from AIKS came in the wake of similar allegations from the Pradesh Congress Committee president B.D. Kalla a week ago alleging exploitation of those employed under the provisions of the Act. In letters written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Dr.Kalla had pointed out serious anomalies in the implementation of the provisions of the Act in all the six districts — Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Sirohi, Jhalawar and Karauli — where it has been introduced.

The State Committee of AIKS which met for the past two days to elect Mr.Ram as the new president in place of veteran Communist leader Sheopath Singh, who passed away in March last, also discussed the inadequate procurement of mustard from farmers at the minimum support price and issues related to drought, onion prices and other topics. Over 100 representatives from 18 districts of Rajasthan attended the meeting.

"On the mustard procurement front the attitudes of both the Rajasthan Government and the Centre are only helping the oil mill owners and traders. The procurement has been nominal so far while a month's payments are due to farmers," Duli Chand, general secretary of Rajasthan AIKS, said.

Against a proclaimed target of 20 lakh tonnes in the State the procurement so far had been only about 4 lakh tonnes. The quantum of procurement was fixed on ad hoc basis in Bikaner and some other districts, the AIKS charged.

While the minimum support price (MSP) for mustard this time is Rs.1615 per quintal, the open market offered only Rs.1450 per quintal.

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