Empowered women through MGNREGA

Gandhiji said, “In a country like India women are the part and parcel of the vast Indian society. They should be alerted with proper education and also they should be entrusted with all sorts of jobs as per their physical ability.”The MGNREGA, by providing legal guarantee to work, marks a paradigm shift from all earlier wage employment programs. It is an inclusive programme covering all the disadvantaged sections of the society. This programme plays a vital role for the upliftment of the women in the rural areas.

In a land where there is little or no opportunity of employment and where agriculture depends on the merely of monsoon, poverty could be seen everywhere at Ganganakote Gram Panchayat. Lack of irrigation facility was a major problem for the cultivators of this area which led to low productive single crop cultivation and concurrent large scale migration. In order to increase employment, which would give rise to production and income, SMSSS took the initiative to educate on the scheme by providing training to the SHG members to avail the benefits from the MGNREGA scheme. The members learnt about the process and benefits of the scheme.

With the effect of the training SHG members of Deepa, Sindhu and Navodaya of Ganjenahalli Streebandhu Federation of Ganganakote Grama Panchayat, Nyamthi Taluk, Davanagere District 50 members of 3 SHG’s applied for job on 4-08-2018 in written application form no-6 to Grama panchayath. They were engaged in public works such as irrigation infrastructure, road construction and Lake dredging for 39 days and received Rupees 3, 14,426/-as wages without any hassle.

The work that was taken up by these SHG members was remarkable. Eventually their standard of living has been improved.

Impact of the scheme:

a)Increase in income: One of the main aims of MGNREGA is to increase the participation of women in household income-generation. It has created a greater degree of economic independence among women. This scheme has empowered women workers to be more confident about their roles as contributors to family expenditure and their work decisions, and that they are also becoming more assertive about their space in the public sphere.

b) Lower Indebtedness: MGNREGA helped these members to reduce the burden of debt of the family. It also helped them to keep themselves away from the clutches of local moneylenders.

c)Enriching Literacy: MGNREGA helped them to improve the education level of their children. They are aware of the importance of the education. They take the decision to give good education to their children. It’s the impact of their earning that they are able to take major decisions in the family.

d) Improved Healthcare: Through the earnings of this scheme the health condition of the family is improved. They provide better heath care to their family members.

e) Community-Level Effects: Women’s participation at the local governance process has increased after the implementation of MGNREGA. These women workers attend the gram-sabha meeting. This development enhances Community level empowerment of women and it is the one of the great achievement.

Conclusion:

This programme provided income to poor households during critical times. The asset creation and infrastructural development is a major outcome of their work.