Digging up the earth with a shovel, Manikyamma is busy at the worksite on a drainage canal at Brahmanakoduru of Chebrolu mandal.
She lives at Manchala village and works in farms during the harvest season.
But the pandemic struck her hard. With no work and no means of livelihood, hunger and deprivation knocked on her door.
She was staring at a very uncertain future, when the village sarpanch informed that work was available through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
The mandate was to clear the weed in a drainage canal, so that waste water from the agricultural fields could flow unobstructed.
She, along with 150 men and women, are engaged in clearing the weed, and each of them is paid ₹240 per day, and the wages are directly credited into their bank accounts once in 15 days.
In keeping with the COVID-19 protocol, the men and women wear masks, follow social distancing and sanitise their hands with soap and water kept nearby.
District Collector Vivek Yadav, who interacted with the workers, said that MGNREGS had proved to be the major source of livelihood during the pandemic.
“During the most difficult times, the scheme has ensured direct employment to lakhs of men and women in the district. We are happy to announce that Guntur district has achieved the target of generating one crore person-days in June 2021, ensuring payment of ₹221.65 crore wage component directly into the their bank accounts. This has been made possible through regular monitoring with the staff of the District Water Management Agency, the Panchayat Raj and other line departments,” said Mr. Vivek Yadav.
Manikyamma is among many men and women, whose lives have been sustained throughout the pandemic in the district through the scheme.
Guntur district, with vast dry lands slicing through the Palnadu area, has achieved remarkable progress in generating one crore man-days by June 2021-22 and providing employment to 1.21 crore men and women, out of whom 42.73 lakh are women, 19.44 lakh SCs, 7.73 lakh STs, and 3.83 lakh BCs.
‘All-time high wages’
The achievement in the year 2020-21 is the highest in the last eight years. The wage component in 2020-21 is an all-time high at ₹242.83 crore, and the material component is ₹172.99 crore against ₹151.96 crore wage component and ₹19.99 crore material component in 2017-18.
Project Director, DWMA, G. Srinivasa Reddy, said that the target was achieved in June itself.
“The NREGS has ensured sustained livelihood to many people,” said Mr. Srinivasa Reddy.
