In a major victory for the villagers who lost employment opportunities after the conversion of village panchayats into urban local bodies, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan has agreed to launch the urban employment guarantee scheme in 42 newly created Municipal Councils. The decision came over the week-end after a month-long agitation at Bhim in Rajsamand district.
The Local Self Government Department has issued orders for starting the guaranteed employment works in the new Municipal Councils, situated in 27 districts, by designating the nearest urban bodies as the in-charge for the task. The regular posts of officials for operating the scheme in the newly constituted municipal areas are yet to be created.
The works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme were stopped in the village panchayats converted into urban local bodies in July last year, posing a major challenge to the villagers who depended on the scheme for their livelihood. As the demand for restarting the works went unheeded even after the change of government in the State, the villagers started an indefinite dharna at Bhim in January-end.
The Devdungri village in Bhim tehsil, where the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan’s (MKSS) headquarters are situated, is known as the centre stage of the movement for right to information, which led to the enactment of the RTI Act in 2005. The month-long agitation was led by the Rajasthan Unorganised Labour Union, which is an associate of the MKSS.
Labour Union’s executive president and RTI activist Shankar Singh said the agitation was aimed at securing the right to work as a guarantee for every person seeking employment. “We will continue to support the villagers applying for job cards and hold the government officials accountable for equitable distribution of work,” Mr. Singh said.
The urban employment guarantee scheme, named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was rolled out in the State by the previous Congress regime in September 2022 to provide economic support to the poor and needy families living in the cities. The scheme stipulates the allocation of work on demand to the labourers for 100 days in a year.
The Congress government had touted it as the country’s biggest scheme to give guaranteed jobs to the people residing in cities, on the lines of MGNREGA for villagers started by the UPA government at the Centre in 2006. Those in the age group of 18 to 60 years residing within the limits of urban local bodies are eligible to demand and get the employment in the identified segments.
The new BJP government has continued with the scheme amid the projections of a widening gap of the labour force participation rate between the rural and urban areas. A few other schemes, including the payment of unemployment allowance, are already operative in the State.
The villagers organised a “victory march” in Bhim on Friday to welcome the State government’s decision. The rally started from Patiya Ka Chowda in the town and culminated at Sujaji Ka Chowk, where MKSS founder-member and Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy and RTI activist Nikhil Dey addressed the participants.
Ms. Roy said the women of Bhim had fought for RTI and NREGA and won the prolonged battle leading to the enactment of important legislations in these realms. The struggle for social causes, including urban employment, could be won with commitment and dedication, she said.
The participants in the march also submitted a memorandum to the Block Development Officer seeking an early issuance of job cards and allocation of works in the Bhim Municipal Council. The tasks to be carried out under the scheme have been clubbed mainly under eight heads and the eligible people are generally given the works such as tree plantation, cleaning ponds, collecting garbage from door to door and segregating it and catching stray animals.
