The Hindu : Karnataka News : Several problems dog NREGS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 18, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Several problems dog NREGS

H.S. Narasimha Kumar

Children were found to be employed
in Alur
Two gram panchayat officials suspended

DAVANGERE: The ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which is being implemented here since 2006, has been dogged by several problems. Though senior officials have been rectifying the shortcomings, various problems, created either by the folly of some officers or due to the absence of a clear guideline, have hampered the effective implementation of the scheme.

Secretary of Alur Gram Panchayat Uma Devi and junior engineer Ravi have allegedly employed children under the scheme. Senior officials, who, by chance, saw children working at a few public works in Alur a few days ago, enquired whether they were not going to schools. And to their utter dismay, the children said that they had dropped out of school and had been working under the NREGS to support their parents.

Immediately, the senior officers summoned Uma Devi and Ravi and enquired why they had employed children under the scheme. As they did not get a satisfactory explanation from the two officers, they had no other way but to keep them under suspension pending inquiry.

This incident has made a mockery of the Davangere district administration’s claim that child labour had been eliminated in the district.

Chief Executive Officer of Davangere Zilla Panchayat Nijalingappa told The Hindu that the zilla panchayat had conducted many training programmes for the implementing officers in the implementation of the programme. Despite this, som e officers were knowingly or unknowingly committing mistakes, he said.

Mr. Nijalingappa said that children aged less than 18 could not be employed under the scheme which has been introduced to provide at least 100 days of employment in a financial year to adult members of a rural household who seek employment and are willing to do unskilled manual work.

The objective of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is to enhance the livelihood security of the people in rural areas by generating employment through works that develop the infrastructure in a particular area. The choice of works suggested addresses causes of chronic poverty such as drought, deforestation and soil erosion.

Many problems that had come in the way of effective implementation of the scheme include the use of machinery and employing relatives of elected representatives of the panchayats. Senior officials of the zilla panchayat who toured the district extensively, particularly the places where NREGS works were going on, have effectively curbed the use of machinery and ensured that more people were given jobs under the scheme.

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