Job guarantee scheme backfires in Kerala

The farmers say the scheme has also resulted in a steep rise in wages in the district, which is in the grip of an agrarian crisis.

 

"I am finding it difficult to get labourers even for Rs.150 (per day). They are getting regular government work. It is impossible for me to provide regular work for a labourer," said T. Varghese, a small farmer at Pulpalli in Wayanad, 500 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

 

"The labourers could not be blamed for quitting farms as they are getting regular work under NREGS," he added.

 

However, according to officials, the NREGS alone is not responsible for labour shortage.

 

"The scheme may have caused a 25 percent shortage. It is the absence of migrant labourers that is the reason for shortage here. Labourers from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are not to be seen in Wayanad now. All of them went back as there were good rains in their own villages last season. Also, about 10,000 tribal labourers from here left for Coorg (district in Karnataka) for ginger cultivation," said C.V. Joy, the joint programme coordinator for NREGS in the district.

 

The farmers feel that the government should make some changes in the scheme so that farm hands are available during the harvest season.