TURA: At a time of rising unemployment across the country coupled with a weakening of the rupee currency, Village Employment Councils formed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) are playing a pivotal role creating durable assets and providing employment in the rural sector.
One of the most sought after “self-employment” happen to be rearing of livestock, particularly piggery in the Garo Hills where hundreds of individuals in various development blocks have begun their individual projects with financial assistance through MGNREGA funds rooted through the VECs.
In Meghalaya, as per the MIS data, there are 23,000 individual piggery farmers in the state with Garo Hills being home to a substantial number of these farmers.
“The VEC model has brought the developmental organ right into the villages and people are getting definitive resources annually. The VECs are running like a Gram Sabha wherein everyone is participating. It is a very encouraging sign,” said P Sampath Kumar, Commissioner and Secretary of Meghalaya Government’s Community and Rural Development department, who is currently on an extensive tour of the blocks in Garo Hills inspecting different projects.
Crunching numbers, Mr Kumar pointed out that the demand for pork in the north east is a staggering 2 lakh metric ton and Meghalaya, including Garo Hills farmers, can play a major role in its supply.
Currently, due to the widening gap between demand and supply, high breed pigs are having to be imported into the region from Punjab and Utter Pradesh to make up for the shortage in supply of the indigenous variety whose numbers have dwindled over the years due to absence of any project to preserve and encourage its breeding.
During a daylong tour of the Dadenggre and Rongram community blocks, on Monday, Mr Sampath Kumar accompanied by Shantanu Sharma, CEO of Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society, visited several project sites including those at Babadam’s Sadolpara village and Tebronggre inspecting works, such as construction of all weatherproof CC jeepable roads, PMAY houses for poor and piggery sheds for housing livestock by individual rural entrepreneurs.
What has become a landmark transformation is the staggering rise in the number of active village employment councils (VECs) that play the most important role when it comes to jobs.
From just 1700 active VECs in West Garo Hills in previous years, the current figure stands at 5500 active VECs in the district.
Development blocks have been directed to ensure VECs create durable assets like construction of concrete jeepable roads using plastic cell technology, integrate natural resources management by way of preserving soil and water bodies and ensure focus on the Bottom 20 who are the poorest of the poor in each village.
In fact, according to block officials, it is the bottom 20 that has become the solid foundation for individual livelihood works.
“Piggery and arecanut plantation are the most sought after by individual beneficiares in the blocks,” inform officials.
The Bottom 20 programme has been such a running success that it has now been raised to Bottom 40 in lieu of the overwhelming demand by individuals to start their own micro trade.
In the face of job scarcity all around, there is a silver lining in the rural sector where individual villagers are slowly transforming into self reliant entrepreneurs.
