Tripura to create jobs under MGNREGA for those practising shifting cultivation

Apart from jobs, the 6,979 ‘Jhumiya’ families will also be provided with seeds for cultivation under the ‘Jhum Sahayata Prakalpa’, according to Minister Nath.

File photo of women belonging to the Reang tribal community going to ajhum field to sow paddy seeds in Dhalai district of Tripura.

The Tripura government has launched an initiative to create jobs under MGNREGA for 6,979 families practising shifting cultivation in the State, a senior Minister said on April 29.

Apart from jobs, the families will also be provided with seeds for cultivation under the ‘Jhum Sahayata Prakalpa’, State Education Minister and Cabinet spokesperson, Ratan Lal Nath told reporters here.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 28, he said.

“We have decided to provide wage employment of six man-days per month under MGNREGA to 6,979 ‘Jhumiya’ families and provide them with seeds for planting, tending and harvesting in the next crop under the ‘Jhum Sahayata Prakalpa’,” he said.

Every family practising ‘Jhum’ cultivation in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) will be provided with 2,150 kg of seeds, Mr. Nath said, adding that the scheme would cost ₹4.5 lakh.

He said the State government had already provided ₹1,000 each to the families practising shifting cultivation, from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

“₹500 each was also provided to 92,899 MGNREGA job cardholders in the State,” Mr. Nath said.

The TTAADC area constitutes two-thirds of the State’s territory and is home to tribals, who constitute a third of the State’s population.