Hyderabad: Losing Livelihood During Covid-19 locking forced Lakh to Telangana to choose the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Workshop Scheme (MGNREG) with 14 lakhs switching more to the central scheme to make a living during a pandemic.
Of the 40 lakh in pre-covid-19 of 2019-20 to 54 lakh in the period 2020-21, officials said the 14 lakh increase also underlined how even teachers and graduates chose to make a living.
Experts say that increasing number can be attributed to many factors such as reverse migration and more rural people who are looking for work to make a living.
The severity of the situation is currently reflected in the data about the work given in the scheme for years.
The number of people working under the scheme never exceeded 44 lakh in any year since the establishment of the country.
It was around 37 lakh in 2014-15.
Interestingly the same number fell from 45 lakh in 2018-19 to 40 lakh in 2019-20, reflecting how rural populations looked at other walks such as starting their own business.
Dr.
Bibhu Prasad Nayak, Chair, School of Livelihood and Development, Tata Social Sciences Institute (TISS), Hyderabad said the work provided in the MNREGS scheme was driven by demand (various categories of work provided), but in the Covid-19 scenario that had never happened Previously, this has become more driven by supply from various angles.
“The government also responds well by providing work to a large number of people.
In the absence of other activities in the villages, more people might have changed towards this scheme,” he added.
However, the mainstay rural livelihood scheme attracted widespread attention when private teachers were reported to work for daily wages throughout the village in many countries in the early 2020.
“I went to my village in Nalgonda on October 2020, I worked there for two people Months because I have a significant debt to get paid and I don’t get a salary, “V Ramesh a private teacher who worked in the city, added that he had a work card in his village before he joined.
Revealing the dimensions of interesting schemes, Jyother Sathyapalan, Associate Professor of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) said that before the emergence of Covid-19, a few percent graduates worked under the scheme.
“Serious study of the relationship between reverse migration (urban to rural) and increasing job seekers in the scheme needed.
Just like Telangana during Covid-19, the number of individuals employed under MGNREG increased in many countries, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, “He said.