Deficit rainfall in several districts across the State has deprived the labour of farm works, their major source of livelihood, and the work guarantee scheme, (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) is not helping them either.
An inordinate delay in wage payments under MGNREGA, which guarantees 100 days of unskilled labour employment per family, has left the labour force in the lurch. The payments pending in the 13 districts of the State has touched ₹865 crore corresponding to 1.1 crore transactions (workers), the highest pendency reported in the last five years.
Ironically, the Union government in March this year had directed Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh among other States, to pay pending wages for the rural employment guarantee scheme and bring down the level of dues to workers at the end of the year to an all-time low.
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Some of the workers have not been paid wages for five to 14 weeks, defeating the very purpose of the scheme. “The Centre has released ₹3,892 crore so far this year, of which ₹2,883 crore is towards wages and the remaining amount for payment of material and administrative expenses,” says Chakradhar Buddha from LibTech India, a team of engineers, social workers and social scientists, who are working to improve public service delivery across the country.
Citing official data, Mr. Buddha says after June13 this year, the Centre has not released any money for clearance of the pending payments. A sum of ₹641 crore was released on July 8 though but it was meant for material and admin expenses.
The highest number of pending wage payments worth ₹112 crore is in Vizianagaram and the least in Guntur district (₹25.5 crore). MGNREGA being the only source of income for most rural workers in summer, 1,362 lakh person days (68%) of the total 2,000 lakh person days of work is already over in the State.
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“The families of the registered workers under this scheme are entitled not only to get 100 days of work each year but also delayed compensation if wages are not paid within 15 days of the work. But the workers are denied this compensation and most of them are not even aware of this clause,” says Mr. Buddha.
M. Buddha, along with the general secretary of All India Rural and Agricultural Workers’ Union Ajay Kumar, State coordinator of Dalit Bahujan Front V. Durga Prasad and president of Adivasi Sanghala Samakhya Arika Krishna Rao have urged Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to intervene and ensure immediate payment of wages to the daily labourers who are forced to migrate in search of work without receiving their hard-earned money.