This report describes the findings of a rapid survey conducted by Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) to evaluate the performance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the 50 poorest dalit villages of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The rapid survey was conducted in the districts of Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur.
The survey revealed that:
- A large number of very poor dalit households had not received even a single day of NREGS work in the last four years or had received it only in the last few days.
- There were serious irregularities and evidence of massive corruption in the implementation of the scheme
- There was no transperancy and accountability in the implementation of the scheme and mechanisms for grievance redressal and payment of unemployment allowance were totally absent under the scheme.
- None of the villagers had ever attended a Gram Sabha meeting in the context of the scheme nor was a social audit of the schemes ever conducted
- A large number of poor workers had migrated to urban areas in search of employment
The report describes the experiences of villagers from the five districts in Uttar Pradesh with the (MGNREGS) and also presents reports from newspapers that have shed light on the sad state of implementation of projects in the country under the MGNREGS.
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