NREGS deals a deadly blow for delta farms

TIRUCHY: The UPA government’s flagship programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), has thrown a tough challenge to agriculture in delta districts.Often hailed as a major measure of the UPA regime to boost rural economy, the scheme has been doing just the opposite — ruining the agricultural economy in Tamil Nadu’s rice granary, according to farmers here.They believe that if the scheme continues to be enforced in its present form, it will act as a catalyst to inflating food prices. They want the NREGS to be made applicable for farm works too.Farmers insist that the scheme will be useful only in arid districts and its implementation in fertile areas, where crops are harvested at least twice a year, is proving to be counter-productive. Villagers who used to work in fields now prefer to work under the NREGS, leading to a shortage of farmhands.Sivasooriyan, the district secretary of the Tamil Nadu farmers’ association, explains: “The farm works clash with those of the NREGS and people do not prefer agriculture in a such a scenario. First, the wages in agriculture are less. Secondly, people find NREGS works very easy, since there is little or no work.”P Ganesan, the district secretary of agricultural labourers’ association, echoes this reasoning. He, however, complains that the said prescribed works have not been carried out under the NREGS and slack officials do not get a day’s work done.“Of the prescribed wage of `119, about `80 to `90 is paid to the villagers, who are happy since they are getting wages for no work. The village officials too are happy, since they net the additional amount,” he argues. M Masilamani, Thanjavur district president of farmers association, said: “From sowing to harvesting, everything should be done at the proper time. If workers are not available at the right time, the farmer end up incurring heavy losses. So, farmers have begun selling their land and moving to other professions,” he said.