LUCKNOW: The implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in Uttar Pradesh has been caught in the vortex of claims and counter claims. While the state government has claimed that in the last one and half months, 52 lakh mandays of employment has been created under the scheme, the Congress has dismissed it as hogwash.

The scheme which was launched on February 2, 2006 is being implemented in 22 districts of U.P. --- Azamgarh, Banda , Barabanki, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Gorakhpur, Hamirpur, Hardoi, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Kaushambi, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Sonebhadra and Unnao. Though the programme was launched in February, U.P. has been a slow starter, with the scheme being implemented in the State from May.

Under the scheme the beneficiary has to be guaranteed 100 days employment and given a wage of Rs 58 per day, which is the rate of minimum wage in the State. Employment has to be generated through works relating to rain water harvesting and water conservation, village ponds, rural roads, plantation and irrigation with the beneficiaries being provided job cards.

The Principal Secretary, Rural Development, KK Sinha told `The Hindu', that according to the latest figures available with the government, 16.51 lakh job cards were issued till July 6, 2006. Of these, 5.89 lakh beneficiaries asked for jobs against which 5.48 lakh persons, including one lakh women, were provided work, he said. "Fifty-lakh mandays of employment has been generated in one and a half months, which is more than 50 lakh mandays generated during the same period in Andhra Pradesh, where the scheme was launched by the Prime Minister," Mr Sinha said. Around 18 lakh beneficiaries have applied for job cards and as Mr Sinha added, "we intend to give employment to all the beneficiaries."

However, the Congress smelt a rat in the state government's claim. The distribution of job cards is one area where the party is not willing to buy UP's argument. As the president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Salman Khurshid said, "the distribution of job cards has been symbolic in many places. The survey of eight districts conducted by the party cell on job guarantee scheme has revealed that 90 per cent of the job cards were lying with the gram pradhans and have not been distributed."

According to Sanjay Dixit, the incharge of the UPCC cell on NREGP, anomalies ranging from no money in gram pradhan account to non-distribution of job cards , have surfaced from Teesi village in Fatehpur district, Ashakheda in Unnao, Kuchhaicha in Hamirpur, Majhalwara in Mahoba, Badausa in Banda and Prasidhpur in Chitrakoot district. "As far as work under the scheme is concerned, only earthwork in ponds has been done. More importantly, in many places the action plan was being implemented without the mandatory technical sanction," he said.

The CPM, which has also included the implementation of the scheme in its agenda, too points to the manner in which job cards were being issued. Jailal Swaroop, secretary, Khet Mazdoor Union of Jaunpur says, "in Gauhani and Umerpur villages in Sujanganj block only 36 farm labourers were issued job cards in June. In Kuluwaha and Asuapar villages in Maharajganj block of the district, 52 and 20 job cards respectively were issued to the beneficiaries."

In fact, the Congress was faced with a dilemma.

The job scheme has been initiated by the UPA government alright, but its (political) benefit was accruing to UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. As Mr Khurshid said , pointing to the dichotomy in the Centre-UP relations, "the central funds are going to the panchayats and blocks which have been kidnapped by the Samajwadi Party. This is the biggest problem we are facing. But despite this the Congress president is not ready to give up her commitment to decentralised development."

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