JOIN USFifty-four year old Govindamal in Pulliyampatti village near Erode district collected handsome returns from her farmland until 2014 before rains failed and groundwater began depleting rapidly.
Govindamal had no choice but to abandon farming and sign up with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to feed her family.
Village after village in Tamil Nadu, we met farmers who have given up on agriculture and taken jobs under the MNGNREGS, the pet project of Congress implemented under the United Progressive Alliance government.
“Though we get free rice from ration shops, the MGNREGS scheme is the only option for other expenses including purchase of vegetables”, Govindamal said.
Sadly though, the state Congress unit has failed to highlight how MGNREGS has kept families like that of Govindamal afloat in the most trying times for farmers.
A senior Revenue Department official said about 90 lakh families were provided jobs in 2015-16, 20 lakh more than in 2014-15 . "In many districts which received less rain, the present entitlement of 100 days under the scheme has been enhanced to 150 days", the official said.
What could hurt the Congress badly would be the widespread perception among rural voters that MGNREGS has been implemented by the AIADMK government.
“Many of our leaders have failed to highlight MGNREGS for the past several years. This would be a major drawback for us in the current elections,” a senior Congress leader from Karur P Jothimani told DH.
The scheme’s overwhelming impact in the state has prompted many leaders, including TNCC chief EVKS Elangovan, to make urgent inclusions of it in their campaign speeches.
Despite allegations that most labourers are not paid fully and the money does not reach them on time, MGNREGS’ popularity is spreading even in the Cauvery delta districts of Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Trichy, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Tiruvarur, where 20.24 lakh households have signed up with the scheme in the absence of water for irrigation in the Cauvery.
“If Karnataka fails to release water this year, we will be forced to take up jobs under MGNREGS,” Tamil Nadu Delta Farmers’ Welfare Association president Ranganathan said, adding the scheme is cutting down traditional paddy cultivation despite being helpful for farmers.
“Farmers suffered huge losses in the last 2 years. MGNREGS has been the only silver lining for us,” Veeramani, a farmer in Dharmapuri, said.