The road accident in Belgaum district, which resulted in the death of 22 labourers, has brought to fore the plight of labourers who are forced to lead a nomadic life owing to seasonal government schemes.
As MNREGA, Ashraya, Anna Bhagya and other such government schemes are not effectively reaching their targeted beneficiaries, who are mostly labourers and daily wage workers, they are wedged to move out of their hometowns to other places in search of jobs.
Organic farming expert DD Bharamagoudra notes that illiteracy and ignorance of people, and corruption in government offices are equally responsible for worsening the predicament of migrant labourers.
“Take the MNREGA for instance. It has given space for agents who harass both labourers and landlords. Irked by it, most workers are not utilising the scheme. However, the amount sanction for them is being discreetly siphoned off,” he said.
The labourers who were involved in the accident were from Tandas, a downtrodden Lambani settlement dating back centuries. Tandas are nomadic and live in slums. The longstanding government proposal to convert these slums into revenue villages is yet to see light of the day.
Worse still is the sky high school dropout rate among children belonging to such settlements.
“The Rs 174 given under MGNREGA is not sufficient for them. They earn Rs 500-1,000 in quarries or construction sectors. Moreover, the government schemes hardly reach them,” said Shrishail Sangalad, a resident of Hunasgi village in Yadgir district.
Most of the labourers who were in the ill-fated vehicle belonged to Tandas. They were migrating to Maharashtra in search of a livelihood as work is scarce at their village.
“We have seven acres of land. As per government rule, we are not small farmers and we don’t get any facilities that are available to small farmers. In reality, we are the smallest of farmers in term of economy. If we get good rains on time, we will be rich. But drought is nature’s gift for us. Whenever we face financial crisis, which is almost always, we leave for Mangalore or Goa. Will MGNREGA fulfill our needs throughout the year? Is Rs 174 or less sufficient for a family? If we go to Mangalore or Goa, we will get Rs 300 per day, apart from breakfast and lunch. Even our children will earn Rs 200 per day there,” said Shantavva Bandi, a labourer from Shirahatti.
Gulbarga district sahitya parishat president Mahipalreddi said if various housing schemes were distributed to genuine beneficiaries, and if other social schemes were implemented successfully, no family would have migrated to other places in search of food and shelter.
“I am thinking of going to Bangalore or Mangalore as my friends are getting a good pay there. As I am suffering from kidney related problem, I have to pay Rs 5,000 per month towards medical expenditures. Being a father of two children, I have to fulfil many other responsibilities as well. But how? That is the big question before me. As we don’t have membership in any cooperative society, we are not benefited by the Yeshasvini health scheme. We don’t know how to get a job card under the MGNREGA scheme either,” said Manjunath Parameshwarappa, another labourer who hails from Kataral village in Yelburga taluk, Koppal district.
Cattle class
A poet and teacher from Raichur, Chidanand Sali, says the Belgaum mishap has once again unveiled the despicable state of road transport in the region.
“As the goods vehicle was carrying over 50 people, including women and children, it can be assumed that they were being carried like ‘goods’ or ‘animals’, which is a common scene here,” he said.
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