NREGA changes lives of rural women in Rajasthan

Bhamori, a mother of eight is happy that she has a water tank constructed for free and also earned money for its construction in a village in Rajasthan where the largest beneficiary of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme are women.

The 60,000 litre water storage tank was built in her home at Sribalaji village in arid Nagaur district, 150 km from Jodhpur under the NREGA scheme which assures 100 days work.

For the first time it has brought peace of mind to her as earlier she had to trudge over five kilometres every day for two buckets of water for her family during the hot summer months.

"We have spent Rs 1 lakh to construct this water storage tank for her as we have done for many other families here in this village," gram sevak Lichi Ram said. "I worked for this project and earned Rs 100 a day under the NREGA scheme," Bhamori said pointing out that she not only got the tank free, but also earned for constructing it.

"I was also able to open my first savings account at the local post office," she said proudly. Over 67 per cent of total days of work generated by NREGA in Rajasthan were utilised by women with the government assuring a minimum of 33 per cent work for them, S S Pawa, CEO of Nagaur district rural development authority, said.
While their hardships have reduced due to development projects like water tanks and sanitation, better village roads, their earnings have also led to a better livelihood for lakhs of women enrolled under NREGA, said Jethu Bhai, who runs an NGO in Pali district.

"Earlier, they had to migrate to states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka to work in the fields and could save very little," he said.

"Now the women can stay at home and afford two square meals by working under the central rojgar yojna projects."

"It is the first time in my married life that I have saved some money in a bank and can plan for the education of my son," said Manju Parihar, a woman in her thirties working at a kuccha road construction site at Ahore in Jalor district in south-west Rajasthan along with over 40 other women.

The story is repeated in village after village in several districts of Rajasthan, which has earned a name for good implementation of NREGA schemes. However, there have been also been complaints of misappropriation of funds and nepotism.

In Nagaur district, while Sribalaji village has excelled, criminal cases have been registered against the sarpanch, gram sevak and two others at neighbouring Sateran village for alleged misappropriation of funds and forgery of muster rolls.

Admitting that there was scope for corrupt practices, the BDO of Nagaur block in Nagaur district, Lachiram Chowdhury said "lack of staff to deal with the huge NREGA funds lead to some lacunae in keeping a check and this leads to corrupt practices." A total of 1122 complaints were received in Nagaur till the first fortnight of March this year, of which 1095 were disposed, according to government sources.

While a total of 12076 complaints were lodged in Rajasthan in 2008-9 relating to NREGA work and funds, 10352 were disposed of, the sources said.