The Report - North 24 Parganas

One of the Panchayat members had informed Radhakanto that since he hasbeen sick and not able to work, he should be informing the BDO where he mighthave an opportunity to receive some compensation on days missed out onwork. “But I haven’t been able to receive any compensation,” says Radhakanto“because I could not pursue the matter at all.” The pond has also not beenutilised completely for fish rearing. The storm Aila has however helped in bringingalong some fishes in the pond and some fingerlings, especially the bhetki kind.Besides the bhetki fish, there are baby prawns in the pond as well.Radhakanto says, “If work is available for 100 days, then it is really a fruitfulprogram for poor people. However, usually work is not available for that manynumbers of days. Here we received work on NREGA for only about 12 to 14days.” But of course the program has its own advantages. “With vegetationplantations I have been able to make some good money. I think the programcan be very useful if water from the ponds can be used in the fields. Before wehad to buy vegetables from the market for eating purposes. But now it serves thedual purpose of increased earnings from sales in the market and as food athome.”For pond excavation, about Rs. 13,600 was gathered. But Radhakanto did nothave much to spend at the end. The workers had worked for more number ofdays than expected and so a lot of money was spent on labor charges. “Returnsfrom pond excavation in terms of additional earnings have not been asexpected. I could use the pond for fish and duck rearing and also expand it abit, but none of this can be done without the aid of the government.”In conclusion, Radhakanto says that landless labourers would be highlybenefited from 100 days of work. “There is no doubt that farmers who have landcould also have additional produces with the help of this program. My son anddaughters-in-law have received huge benefits from the program and I think 200days of employment would serve our purposes even better.”Radhakanto makes some additional comments on the possible weaknesses ofthe program. “Workers employed are sometimes given the workload of 2 to 3workers at the same time. From that perspective, I think per day’s remuneration isnot sufficient. Besides women are not employed for any work other than mudwork and that too only for women who are healthy and strong. I think thealternative is to provide work through self help groups. Women can start doinganimal husbandry at home. This requires less physical work at times and can bevery profitable at the end.”