Click to play videoLatur: Villages across Marathwada and Vidarbha have been facing an imminent drought, resulting in almost no work for the farm labourers. Even in Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's own constituency, the farmers are out of work.
Farmers are depending completely on the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), but their hopes may not be fulfilled.
Kamalbai Chavan a labourer, had pinned her hopes on a job in a local road construction project which is part of the UPA's much-touted Employment Guarantee Scheme. But she's still waiting for the official government circular.
"We need work soon, despite filling up EGS forms we are neglected when projects are allotted," she says.
Agricultural laborers across Maharashtra such as Kamalbai are relying on road works offered through the EGS to be the only source of income, but allegations of mismanagement of funds has raised questions.
Will the benefits of this scheme reach the right people at the right time?
A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor-General pointed out glaring failures in Maharashtra EGS.
The report said that work was badly planned, financial management was poor and there was virtually no monitoring of the scheme.
Only 19 per cent of the total allocated funds were utilised and the government diverted EGS money for other purposes.
"The government calls it a drought-like situation. Are they waiting for people to die so that they can declare it as drought when the situation goes out of hand," demands social activist Annarao Patil.
With the rain nowhere in sight, farmers like Chandrabhuj Ladke face a bleak future.The 60-year-old's soybean crop was damaged in the heat wave and he may soon have to sell his bullocks to feed himself.
"The government doesn't do anything for us farmers here. If I don't get a fair price then I don't know what I'll do," he says.
After pressure from the opposition, the State government has decided to revive the EGS, but for many farmers, the scheme could be too little, and too late.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
