THE BIDUPUR colony in the heart of Jalangi village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district was once a bustling community with over 70 families. Today, 50 of the houses lie vacant, and the colony has turned into a ghostly shadow of its former self. Like the residents of the colony, people from across villages in West Bengal have been forced to migrate to cities in the past two years because of the abrupt discontinuation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a Central scheme that guarantees 100 days of employment to rural households that demand work.
On December 21, 2021, the central government halted the funds for the scheme after accusing the state government of financial irregularities. Three months later, in March 2022, the Centre discontinued the scheme in the state, plunging at least 13.1 million people who demanded work under MGNREGS in 2020-21 into uncertainty.
The scheme’s discontinuation has pushed rural West Bengal into “extreme distress”, says Nikhil Dey, co-founder of worker rights nonprofit Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. It not only ensured guaranteed wages for the rural poor but also acted as a bulwark against distress migration. Additionally, it helped stabilise labour prices by granting the poor the right to negotiate their wages. “All of these gains have been undone in the state, forcing people to seek employment in distant cities under dismal working conditions and meagre pay,” he says.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 01, 2024 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 01, 2024 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
