MNREGA fails to check exodus of labours from Bihar

Patna,(BiharTimes): Contrary to the general perception created by the state government machinery the centrally-sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme failed to check the exodus of labours from Bihar.

According to a survey done by a New Delhi-based agency in 3,037 respondents from two blocks each of Gaya, Bhojpur and Auranagabad districts between March 2011 and November 2012 MGNREGA failed to deliver results in the districts of Gaya, Aurangabad, and Bhojpur.

Seventy-nine per cent of the respondents said they received no work under MNREGA. Had the people got jobs in their areas, they would not have gone outside, the survey said.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Sachindra Narain, under whose guidance the survey was conducted, released the report on Tuesday. Debraj Bhattacharya, the co-ordinator of Institute of Social Sciences, the New Delhi-based organisation that carried out the survey, was also present on the occasion.

Narain said MGNREGA has failed to deliver results in the districts of Gaya, Aurangabad and Bhojpur.

The report titled “Why I left my village: A study on migration from rural Bihar, India” cent per cent respondents in Aurangabad, 93 per cent in Gaya and 54 per cent in Bhojpur said they did not get any work under the MGNREGA.

Around 97 per cent of the respondents cited inadequate fulfilment of livelihood and inadequate employment opportunities as reasons for migration.

The report said majority of the migrants come from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. New Delhi is their most favoured destination followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra and the North-East. The respondents also said they now don’t prefer to go to Mumbai or Assam in the North-East for obvious reason of fear. Earlier, Punjab and Haryana were the favoured destination.

It needs to be recalled that Gaya, Aurangabad and Bhojpur fall on Grand Chord and Main Line of Indian Railways. Grand Trunk Road (Golden Quadrilateral) passes through Gaya and Aurangabad. Thus migration was always high in these districts.