In early-2008, Prakash Sarkunde, an adivasi, was able to realise one of his aspirations. He replaced the kutcha thatch of his house with corrugated sheets that are better able to withstand the rains. His fellow labourer Maruti Rajne and seven others pooled in money to buy machinery to dig borewells. They hope it will help them generate more income.

Like many residents of Dehgaon-Sakur (both hamlets fall under a single gram panchayat) the adivasis were able to improve their living standards because of work they got under the Maharashtra Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MREGS) in their village in Mahur block of Nanded district.

More importantly, adivasis who were forced to migrate seasonally now realise that the MREGS gives them the opportunity to earn as much if not more money than they would have earned working outside the village.

This is one of the success stories of the Nanded model, demonstrating the impact of the MREGS when civil society organisations, the administration, and grassroots-level panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) work together (read story on the Nanded model here).

Mahur block is situated in a hilly region largely inhabited by tribals, many of whom own just a few acres of land. The blocks remoteness makes any kind of development activity difficult. Still, Vijay Pratisthan, a civil society organisation (CSO) allied to the Dushkal Hatawu Manus Jagawu (DHMJ) drought forum initiated by the PACS Programme, has successfully ensured that work under the MREGS began in at least 63 gram panchayats of the block.

By July 2008, 138 projects were completed, at least 4,000 labourers were provided employment, and Rs 4 crore was disbursed as wage payments.

Under the initiative of the Nanded district administration, MREGS employment continued right through the 2008 monsoon period, with pits being dug for plantation, to the tune of almost Rs 3 crore.

Assistant programme officer for the block, S D Jagatkar, recalls that when the MREGS was launched on February 2, 2006, several public notices and advertisements were issued but there was little awareness among the people on what the programme was actually all about.

Even after awareness programmes were launched under the Nanded model of partnership between DHMJ CSOs and the district administration in all 63 gram panchayats, it had little effect.

It was only after a second round of awareness-building was carried out in November 2007, with the help of DHMJ partners, that some people began evincing interest.

First challenge

One of the first challenges for the administration and CSOs was to ensure that people were convinced they would get work within 15 days of putting in a demand.

In many instances, the Nanded district administration did not wait for people to demand work but adopted the target-based approach of generating employment for a maximum number of labourers.

Accordingly, nullah bunding work began inRuhi village, in April 2007; five projects were completed by May 2008.In August 2008, plantation work started under the MREGS. Two-hundred-and-thirty-five households were registered and 625 people given work in the village.

Significantly, the gram sevak, M D Kamble, was not opposed to the MREGS unlike many of his colleagues across the state. Kamble has in fact been given a certificate for his sincere efforts.

Successful completion of work in Ruhi had a ripple effect, with similar works taken up right across the block. In Sakur, works to the tune of Rs 34 lakh provided employment to Gond, Banjara and Pradhan tribals till June 2008.

Sakur is located in a remote corner of Mahur block bordering Andhra Pradesh. The hilly nature of the terrain makes farming difficult. Plot holdings are small, at most two hectares. The entire population of the village depends on manual labour to earn a living. At least 75% of adivasi families migrate for six months to places like Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh, 50 km away, to work in the ginning mills. The migration disturbs family life and childrens education.

Another problem the villagers face is from Naxalites. Shankar Sidam, husband of sarpanch Sulochana Sidam, says: We have had to contend with pressures from both the police force and the Naxalites.

Therefore the villagers were eager to get works sanctioned in the village although there was some scepticism about the scheme as many people had worked under the state Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and had not received payment.

But Vijay Pratisthans persistence in awareness-building bore fruit: registration job cards were issued to around 320 households.

Under guidance from the gram sevak and Vijay Pratisthan, the gram panchayat samiti decided to take up bunding works. Technical expertise by Vijay Pratisthan facilitated the drawing up of estimates, says Sidam. Work was provided to 758 labourers, covering all 320 households in the village.

After receiving at least two rounds of payments, people were reassured that the MREGS could indeed benefit them. There has been no large-scale migration since December 2007, says Sidam.

Labourers like Ganesh Bothin, who is also a gram rozgar sevak, Maruti Rajne, Shamrao Masadkar, Vishnu Borkar and Prakash Sarkunde are hopeful that income from MREGS wages will enable them to buy seeds and fertiliser for their plots. Or even goats for rearing. Some said their children had begun to regularly attend the anganwadi school.

One of the problems that still needs to be resolved, however, is mode of payment. Whilst the district administration is keen on payments through postal accounts, the villagers say this means they have to walk several kilometres to the nearest post office.Also, since the post office cannot keep large amounts of cash, several trips have to be made. Payments have therefore been made in cash to workers, in the presence of village MREGS vigilance committee members.