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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Jharkhand: 2,500 NREGS wells subside in first monsoon by Manoj Prasad

Jharkhand: 2,500 NREGS wells subside in first monsoon by Manoj Prasad

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published Published on Aug 2, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 2, 2011

The well being dug under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at a cost of Rs 2.63 lakh at Gutjera village in Khunti district could not withstand the first spell of monsoon rain. On July 18, its walls collapsed, and so did the dreams of Shravan Mahato of reaping “three crops a year”.

His isn’t the only well to have collapsed under the first brush of monsoon. Government estimates show 2,500 of a total 1.10 lakh wells constructed under the NREGS in Jharkhand in 2010-11 are now filled up — amounting to a loss of crores to the state exchequer.

Behind this big loss was a simple miscalculation. When the works were approved in 2010, the government rate of stone bricks, to line up the walls of wells to prevent them from collapsing, was Rs 2.80 per piece. By the time the digging finished, the price had gone up to Rs 5 to Rs 7 per piece — something the officials didn’t account for.

The difference in the price was huge and not covered under the NREGS. Mahato, for one, could not afford to buy the bricks. When the rains came, his well had nothing to keep it intact. “We are ruined,” says Mahato.

In Jharkhand, where irrigated land is less than 8 per cent against the national average of 40 per cent, dreams of many such as Mahato rested on these wells.

Not far away, Samundu Mahato of Gutjera was ready to chip in his own money to purchase the stone bricks, but couldn’t because of another government misstep. As per an NREGS guideline, the beneficiary had to purchase the stone bricks from a registered crusher unit. No such unit exists near Gutjera. His well too ruined, Samundu says: “The entire work and resources have gone down the drain.”

Just before the onset of rains last month, economist Jean Dreze along with activist Reeta Khera had met the authorities drawing their attention to the possibility of subsidence of wells in the wake of rains after visiting several villages in Khunti.

“We saw many wells being dug up by beneficiaries. We learnt that they needed stone bricks but the stone bricks were not made available to them. With the arrival of the monsoon, fear had gripped them,” said Khera.

Admitting the loss to beneficiaries, NREGS Commissioner Ajay Kumar Singh says they have now made the required changes.

“Three steps were taken. One, a revolving fund was created at the district-level; second, rates of stone bricks were revised; and third, the government of India has relaxed the rule in a way that it allows beneficiaries to purchase the stone bricks up to Rs 5,000 from any supplier, registered or not,” said Singh.

A bitter man, Shravan doesn’t understand the delay. “What is there in this government move when our dreams are shattered?”

The Indian Express, 1 August, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jharkhand-2-500-nregs-wells-subside-in-first-monsoon/825382/0


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