Monalisa Patsani
Bhubaneswar: A special thrust for empowerment of primarily vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), a pilot project, was evolved jointly by state Panchayati Raj Department and OMEGA which provides 100 to 200 days of employment to tribals.
There are at least 13 PVTGs who constitute a population of over one lakh and reside in over 20 blocks of 12 districts in the state. The state government and the Centre launched several schemes to ameliorate the condition of these tribals, considered most primitive and backward.
OMEGA in association with IPE Global launched the project in Keonjhar district in recent years involving Juanga tribes, who hitherto, used to go to far-flung areas in search of work as labourers. The tribes were given away job cards which ensured a minimum employment of 100 days. Now, the members of the tribe work in various developmental projects in their own village or neighbourhood.
A case in point is Mamalaposi village, a few kilometres from Keonjhar town, having a tribal population of 500. Fifty of the tribes in the village are Juangas.
Vasudev Juanga, 24, owns land in the village but it is not irrigated. Consequently, Vasudev is compelled to work as a labour. “Water is the chief concern in the village and hence we can’t cultivate our field. We cultivate land only in rainy reason and rest of time our lands remain barren when we go out for work as labourers,” he said.
Earlier, Vasu had gone to Balasore, Berhampur and other places as a construction worker. But after getting job card he gets employed in his own village. “I don’t have to go anywhere for employment. Recently, I worked in a pond and a road construction site near my village,’’ he says with confidence.
Sharing her experience, Raimoni Juanga, another beneficiary from the village, said, “Two years back we got job cards. Under the job card which has been issued in the name of my husband, me and my husband get opportunity to work in various developmental work in our village. It has become much better for us to get a livelihood without going to other places.”
Sharing her experience of working in some construction sites, Raimoni said, “When I used to work in a construction site, I only got peanuts as wages. Sometimes, the broker would cut our wages drastically. Now, under the job card scheme, we get work for at least eight hours a day which fetches Rs 175. Sometimes we work for only a couple of hours but still get the full payment.”
Sashi Juanga, 23, another job card holder recently got a month’s employment under the scheme. “I got an opportunity to work in a mango groove in my village. I worked there for four weeks and I got around Rs 170 per day. The scheme is very good as we have to work there only for a few hours and the wages are better than those under a private agent,” Sashi claimed.
The beneficiaries in Mamalaposi are engaged in land development, renovation of water bodies and plantation work in mango and cashew orchards.
