A reverse migration of sorts is taking place at a village in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district, thanks to an initiative by teachers of different government schools.
At Gunj Bablad village, known for high migration of agricultural labourers to Mumbai, Goa and Bengaluru, regular availability of MNREGA work is acting as a deterrent. The force behind the effort is a group of teachers, led by Ningappa Mangondi, a government primary school teacher, and his wife, Nandadevi Mangondi, who is chairperson of the Chennamma Mahila Self-Help Group. “The painful scenes of despair in my village and large-scale migration of agricultural labourers forced us to take the initiative to tap the MNREGA funds to take up labour-intensive works,” said Mr. Mangondi.
Four more teachers working in government schools — Mallikarjun Okaly, Shambulingh, Siddalngh Sunagar, and Appasab Theertha — joined forces with the Mangondi couple in identifying the works and helping the people get job cards and employment near their homes.
Chief Executive Officer of the Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat Anirudh Sravan has provided them a vehicle to go around the neighbouring villages to identify the works and also list of the workers who were willing to take up work under the MNREGA. This has come in handy for these teachers who otherwise used to travel by buses.
Under this initiative, many works have been taken up. Altogether around 700 people are now employed in these works.
