MGNREGS: Adding aspiration in Andhra

MGNREGS: Adding aspiration in Andhra

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Just three years ago 19 year old Anchekatti Rangaswamy would have been satisfied if he was able to get three square meals a day. Rangaswamy who belongs to a backward community in Yerraguntla village, situated 285 km from Hyderabad, was working as a daily wage labourer to support his family.

But the introduction of the MGNREGS in his village has completely changed Rangaswamy’s outlook on life and what he can achieve. He now aspires to complete an MBA and work as an executive in a corporate office.

Rangaswamy is completing his third year of B.Com computers around 60 km from Kurnool. Having secured over 70% marks in his first year,, he hopes to obtain at least 75% in his second year of exams.

All this is possible for Rangaswamy after the financial condition of his family significantly improved under the MGNREGS. Thanks to development work implemented in their property under the scheme, the family hopes to harvest at least one dry crop in a year.

Rangaswamy, who used to earn around Rs 30 a day unloading tractors is now able to support his studies completely through his wage earnings of at least Rs 100 a day. He needs around Rs 8,000 for his final year of studies fees and plans to earn at least Rs 4,000 during these summer holidays thanks to work that comes about due to the MGNREGS.

There are thousands of such students spread across  1,522 villages of Kurnool who nurse similar dreams of higher education and white collar jobs, thanks to the financial emancipation that has resulted from the MGNREGS during its three years of implementation.

Talari Thimmaiah, a 24-year-old boy, now working for the MGNREGS as head of a 20-member team of job seekers in the same village, says he had discontinued his studies seven years back after completing his intermediate studies because his family could not afford it. “I was unlucky that a job guarantee scheme like MGNREGS was not available those days, which would have helped me continue my education to become a white collar employee,” he says.