In order to provide employment to the working people in the rural areas, the central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) wasintroduced. Through this scheme, the state government is providing employment to every job card holding beneficiaries on daily wage basis. Government spends billions of rupees to provide employment to the daily wage earners and enhance their income locally.
But in Kabisuryanagararea ofGanjam district, machines are being used replacing the job card holders. The local illiterate working class workers are not getting any opportunity to work’ as use of machine has replaced their physical engagement. In various panchayats of Kavisuryanagar block, work is going on vigorously under Mgnregaon paper.
It is reported in the website of the scheme that multiple projects are ongoing in each panchayatunder Mgnrega. But through this scheme, rural workers are not getting employed. So how much work the workers are really doing under these Mgnregaprojects, can be verified by looking in to the improvement work of NuapalliUparjharana village Pond in Baansia Panchayat.One may see that in broad daylight, JCBs are deployed for excavation of the pond. The soil being lifted by the JCBsfrom the pond is being transported by four numbers of tractors.It is one of the examples of broad daylight violation of the MgnregaSchemes. It is said that the work is being done under Mgnrega scheme when no plan outlay board is displayed.
After the pond excavation work got completed, a display board was put up on site, although all the work was done through machines, not men. It has been designed to draw the money as wagespaid to the workers. Ganjam district is the thickly populated district of Odisha and has an ill reputation of migrating to other states in search of work. The officials beginning from the block office to GRS have hands in glove, it is alleged.
In view of the scam, the district administration and the senior officials of the department are required to take strict action against the officials who are misappropriating the government funds and defeating the spirit of Mgnrega.
