MGNREGS took away farm hands but gave us no benefits: Farmers

MADURAI:The farming community in Madurai has urged the state and the central governments to synchronize the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) with farming activities, while alleging that the scheme took away farm hands and that they reveived no tangible benefits of the scheme.
Farmers, who participated in a recent grievance redressal meeting held at collector's office, expressed their difficulty in finding farm hands as most of the villagers preferred working under the MGNREGS scheme.
Even people who were relatively well off had registered themselves under the scheme which is for people below the poverty line, alleged Alagu Servai, a farmer.
"They don't work properly even under the scheme. If the government could send them to farms, we will pay Rs100 in addition to what the government pays. We are struggling to get workers for agricultural work," he said.
A N M Thiruppathi, another farmer, urged the district administration to take up audit of all works carried out under MGNREGS in the past few years to analyze its benefits. However, a section of farmers at the meeting opposed such allegations, stating that MGNREGS has helped thousands of people below the poverty line by ensuring proper wages and livelihood.
"It will not be fair to criticize such a project that helps the masses," said P Rajapandian, a farmer. Farmers' association president M Pandian said that the scheme has helped people to live with dignity on the rural outskirts. He pointed out that ponds were dug on many lands under the scheme earlier.
"We can say that MGNREGS helped elderly women to get their due respect by being able to fend for themselves," he said.
District collector K Veera Raghava Rao said that the state government had already passed a government order to allow MGNREGS workers for farm work.
"The district administration will work out necessary measures so that agricultural work doesn't suffer," he said.