Rajasthan tribals get work guarantee

Dungarpur: Rajoo has just hit his twenties and is all set to get married. He is a migrant labourer to Ahmedabad and he now has a job under the rural employment guarantee scheme.

With no rains, this tough terrain of Dungarpur offers little job opportunities, so migration for work was the only option for Rajoo.

But now he can stay back and also get married.

In the tribal belt of Rajasthan, either migrating for work or indulging in robberies for a job have been popular job options, a large number of people are now benefiting from jobs under the rural employment guarantee scheme.

"There was no work in our village; we had no option but to go to Ahmedabad, but now there is government work. I am getting married also. I now want to work here only," Rajoo says.

Dungarpur is named after dungars or hillocks and has harsh living conditions.

Extreme poverty and lack of jobs has lead to an increase of robberies here.

"In tribal areas, crime is related to terrain and depends on the bordering states also. And secondly, it is connected with employment opportunities. For example, in a particular year, if the rainfall is good and there's work, the crime is less," Superintendent of Police Anil Paliwal says.

With jobs guaranteed to the people here, many feel the rate of crime and migration will go down.

But with funds not flowing, the job dream may soon be interrupted.

"We couldn't make both ends meet, that was our problem. Now even the money we are supposed to get is not coming down to us," a worker, Rupa says.

Activists feel that it's not just the lack of funds but also the shortage of staff to carry out the scheme that might be a dampener.

"There must also be political will in the Government of India; they can't just give us an act and sit back," activist, Aruna Roy says.

With three per cent irregularities in the scheme so far, as against 30 per cent in other rural job schemes, there is still hope for people in the tribal belt of Rajasthan to land a job.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)