150 jobs cards but no jobs in a village in Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh

It is reported in media that in implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme State of Madhya Pradesh is said to be doing better than many other states, probably is on the top of the ladder. As per the NREGA website funds amounting to Rs 1361.31 core have being spent to give employment to 37.08766 Lakhs households in the state and 224320 are the total works taken up under NREGA in the state. National Rural employment Guarantee schemes is an Act to provide for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household

But somehow the impact of this Act has not been able to reach communities of village Chokhra in Nowgaon block of the Chhattarpur district of the State of Madhya Pradesh. About 150 households in the village have jobs cards. They were issued to them quite some time back, but till date none of these cards ever had a single entry. All were just blank. As per people of the village none of them had ever had got any jobs inspite of holding proper job cards. They questioned the credibility of the card. Though rule says that household having job card will have to make an application for getting an employment. Raja Ram, a community member from the village said ‘quite vocally’ ‘that they have done it number of times but is of NO use’.

At present the village is facing acute water crisis, all of its wells have gone dry. They are in hour of crisis which is going to augment and create major hardships in coming months which means that the need of the job is more than ever before. The people of village Chokhra have got missed out in the process and are not even on records, not sure what will happen to them?.

NREGA website on status of implementation of NREGA in District Chhattarpur reports that more than 1.52 lakh households had demanded the work under NREGA and 100 % of households had been provided with the same. Rs 94.53 crores have been spent by the district from the available NREGA funds and 8838 works have been competed. But none of this has reached Chokhra village which need the same except job cards. A fact which needs immediate reversal..

Contributed by Anil