The EGS record
In Maharashtra its done well, and not
The EGS record
A look at the district-wise data in the same time period shows that maximum egs money has been spent in Solapur district (Rs 586.86 crore), followed by Beed (Rs 506.12 crore) and Ahmednagar (Rs 504.99 crore). Based on the official data, dte has ranked top 10 egs expenditure districts in Maharashtra and looked at the nature of work that has been carried out in these districts (see chart : Top 10 districts in Maharashtra on the basis of their EGS expenditure). All these districts either fall in rain shadow area or have high tribal population in dire need of egs works. In all the districts over 50 per cent of egs works are water conservation and agriculture. In case of Solapur they are as high as 75 per cent of the all egs works. Least egs expenditure in the last three decades is in Raigad district at Rs 11.62 crore, followed by Washim at Rs 15.04 crore and Hingoli at Rs 18.30 crore.
EGS work is not evenly spread across the state. Says R C Kanade, former principal secretary, egs, Maharashtra, " egs work depends on a number of factors, such as availability of alternate work, labour presence, rainfall, poverty, people's attitude, dependence on agriculture, etc. For instance, in a district that has more scope for agriculture work, very few labourers report on egs work because they get higher wages on agriculture work sites." Rainfall seems to be one of the most important factors in deciding the extent and spread of egs work in a district. Konkan region districts like Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg receive heavy rainfall, hence report very low egs. Thane is part of Mumbai agglomeration and reports low egs except in tribal dominated tehsils of Jawahar and Mokhada.
If women's participation is used as a proxy for raising the nutritional status of households members, egs seems to have reduced intrahousehold inequalities in nutrition, notes Dev.
Notes a January 2003 paper, Is there a case for the employment guarantee scheme in India? authored by Raghav Gaiha, "In some of the poorer regions (eg tribal villages) the egs continues to confer significant transfer and stabilisation benefits during long seasonal slacks. As alternative employment options are few and far between, the dependence on the egs is unavoidably high for those who are able to participate in it. If the overall participation rates are low, it is partly a consequence of the nature of projects undertaken and low outlays and not so much a result of slackening of demand for the egs. A case therefore is made for enhanced outlays under the egs with a substantially higher reallocation in favour of the poorest regions."
Says A Gadilkar, deputy collector (egs), Ahmednagar, " egs has definitely increased seasonal irrigation in this rain shadow district. Earlier we could hardly get one rabi sorgum crop but now we also take other seasonal crops like onion and vegetables. Apart from this, almost 69,000 ha area in the district is at present under horticulture crops only due to the egs sub-scheme. Earlier during extreme drought almost 680 water tankers were pressed into service in the district, but these have now reduced to mere 18 tankers." As against 34.55 per cent families in Maharashtra below the poverty line (bpl), Ahmednagar has only 25.04 per cent bpl families. Infant mortality rate is 47 as against 74 for Maharashtra.
Various official studies, however, show the fruitlessness of egs works. The Maharashtra government undertook a study in 1982 to understand benefits accruing out of 19 percolation tanks constructed under egs in six districts and the results showed that something was clearly amiss. The study found that out of the 222 wells that were to benefit from the 10 percolation tanks, only 190 wells were in operation in the command area. And out of these 190, just 101 wells reported an increase in water levels. Hence, the actual benefit in terms of increase of water in wells in command areas worked out to be less than 45 per cent. Further, details about wells in Bhandara district were not available. In Yavatmal, not even a single well had benefited and in Ahmednagar, potential utilisation was less than 25 per cent.
Similarly, an evaluation of six minor irrigation projects -- four in Bhandara, one in Aurangabad and one in Yavatmal -- shows that of the 289 ha of irrigation potential that these projects had to create, only 188 ha (65 per cent) could be achieved. Road projects under egs fare no better. Evaluation of 24 road projects confirmed that two works in Thane and Aurangabad were not usable and destroyed; three roads were not in good condition and deteriorating for want of maintenance; but the rest 19 were in good condition and being used.
egs has failed to make any noticeable impact on Maharashtra's tribal districts, infamous for high child mortality due to malnutrition. Between 1.20 lakh and 1.75 lakh children die every year for medical reasons and that another 38 lakh would die in the next 20 years. Lives of another 8 lakh are at present threatened due to grade 3 and 4 malnutrition. Experts agree that most of Maharashtra's tribal population depends on EGS for livelihood, but it has made very little impact in raising their living standards.