The Report - North 24 Parganas

the pond. “I generally don’t have to buy vegetables from the market after thepond was excavated. Besides I also hope to earn a lot of money from sellingfishes. It would generate enough income for 4 to 5 bags of rice. If I had little bit ofmore water in the pond, I could generate business worth Rs.8000 to Rs.10000.”Sadhan has been able to work for 6 months a year on this program and for therest of the days he has been doing his work on the fields. But the payments arealways delayed, he says. “It is very difficult for us to sustain our expenses if wedonot get paid every week or every 15 days. I have loans for about Rs. 4000.When I have the produces from the fields, I can return this money I think.”For the work on pond excavation, about Rs. 14,500 was collected and workershad approximately worked for 15 days. After the work, only a small amount ofmoney was left and therefore Sadhan has not been very enthusiastic about thefacilities received from the card. “I think besides the 100 days of work, theprogram has very little advantage.”“I have been working on pond excavation, road construction and other kinds oflabor oriented jobs on the job card. In total, I have been employed for about 40days. All this work is managed and organised by the panchayat developmentcommittee. But very few people find interest in doing this kind of work becauseof the delays in receiving the money which is often for about 2 to 3 months.Besides, when we did not have the job cards, the panchayat regularly arrangedwork for us. So the 100 day work card has not added any value to our lives.” Butthe fact that the government has promised compensation if work is not availableto workers is useful, Sadhan says. “However even when compensation exists,nobody informs us and we have little time to enquire about this. So there is noway to retrieve the money.” It is quite evident therefore that apart from fishrearing practises that Sadhan has newly begun and some vegetation that hehas been able to plant around his home, he has not been very satisfied with theaccomplishments of the program.