Reducing rural project funding is not fair .... Ramadhas insists

The rural program provides a minimum livelihood not only for those already in rural areas, but also for those who have lost their jobs due to the corona and returned from the countryside. Ramadhas stressed that it was not fair to cut funding for it.

Pmk founder Ramdhas issued a statement today:

'Statistics show that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Program has not been able to meet the livelihood needs of the people in an environment where the rural economy has been crippled by the spread of the corona virus. Given that the project can only save the rural population from starvation to some extent, the reduction in funding is unreasonable.

16 years after the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the scheme is a tool to improve the rural economy and provide livelihood. People's livelihoods have been severely affected by the corona virus infection for the past one and a half years.

Those who worked in urban areas and moved to other states for survival lost their jobs and largely returned to the villages. The scheme provides a minimum livelihood not only for those already in the villages but also for those returning from the countryside.

As many as 2 lakh 34,071 families have completed the maximum number of working days under the scheme till yesterday, as people in many states have to rely on the scheme for their livelihood. With 9 more months to go in the current financial year, they no longer have the opportunity to get a job.

With only 88 days completed in the current financial year till yesterday, if about two and a half lakh families have enjoyed 100 days of employment, then one can know how much livelihood those families need.

How is it possible for those families to live without any other livelihood or rural work in the coming months, when it is not known when the corona damage will end? It is frightening to think that.

In addition, Rs 29,569 crore has so far been spent on the project out of the total funds of Rs 36,641 crore, including funds allocated by the central government, to all the states for the six months to September. With the remaining funds it is not possible to provide work even for 2 weeks. Families who depend on this program for their livelihood will be severely affected as there will be no funding for the next 10 weeks after that.

Even though the situation in Tamil Nadu is not so bad, it is certain that there will be no money to continue this project in the next few weeks. Of the Rs 2,580 crore allocated for the first six months of the project in Tamil Nadu, 62%, or Rs 1,601 crore, has been spent so far.

Due to the spread of corona in Tamil Nadu and the absence of 100 days of work between the election and the counting of votes, the people were given very few jobs. Now that more families are seeking work, it is not possible to provide them with jobs with the available funds.

The reason for this situation in Tamil Nadu and other states is the drastic reduction in the allocation of funds by the Central Government for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. One lakh 11,500 crore was allocated last year considering the corona vulnerabilities. In practice, however, it was reduced by 35% to Rs 73,000 crore.

This is slightly higher than the Rs 71,686 crore allocated in the pre-Corona impact year 2019-20. In that year only 24.85 crore man days were provided in Tamil Nadu. In 2020-21 it was 33.40 crore man-days, an increase of one-third.

At present, it requires about 40 crore man-days of work, at least Rs 11,437 crore. But in practice, Tamil Nadu does not get even half of it at most. This is not enough.

The same is true even when taken at the Indian level. Even if it wants to create 400 crore man-days, slightly more than the 389 crore man-days provided last year, the central government alone will have to allocate Rs 1,13,500 crore. Doing so could provide 150 days of work for people who have lost their livelihoods so badly.

Therefore, the Central Government should increase the number of working days under the Rural Employment Program to 150 in 2021-22 and extend this scheme to agricultural activities. I also urge a 50% increase in funding for this project. '

Thus Ramdhas insisted.