© 2019 IJRAR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) IMPACT OF MGNREGA ON THE SOCIO- ECONOMIC STATUS OF TEA GARDEN VILLAGE:A STUDY OF TEA GARDEN VILLAGE OF KALCHINI GRAM PANCHAYAT IN KALCHINI BLOCK OF ALIPURDUAR DISTRICT Bobby Lama, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Alipurduar College, P.O: Alipurduar Court-736122, Dist: Alipurduar (West Bengal), India Abstract: The inclusion of tea garden villages within the purview of Panchayat Raj Institution in 1998 followed by the implementation of MGNREGA in 2006 has given the native tea garden people a smile on their face. A number of development programs and welfare schemes have been launched, and a large number of women have participated, and were benefitted by the MGNREG schemes. Restricted, but gradually the developments are percolating in to the village, despite closure of the tea garden for over a decade. In the absence of alternate source of income, both (PRI & MGNREGA) have played a vital role in helping the people to sustain livelihood during difficult times. Although not much progress could be visualized, the quality of life of the people seems gaining momentum in its own pace. The present research paper highlights the socio-economic status, and tries to analyze the impact of MGNREGA in the socio-economic up-liftment of tea garden village. The study has focused especially on the impact of MGNREGA on the socio-economic condition, knowledge & awareness about MGNREGA, and the difficulties faced by them in the participation of MGNREG Schemes. Finally, it is suggested that a sincere and honest effort must be made by the concerned agencies for a successful implementation of MGNREGA in this part of the country. Key words: MGNREGA, Socio-economic, Tea garden village. 1.0 Introduction The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), 2005 or Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a kind of wage employment program designed and implemented to fight poverty in backward and rural areas of the country. With its legal framework and right-based approach, MGNREGA provides employment to those who demand it, and it is governed by the following characters: - To enhance livelihood security through the provision of minimum 100 days of wage employment to every rural household who wish to work and ask for un-skilled manual jobs. - To create sustainable rural livelihood through regeneration of the natural resource base i.e. augmenting productivity and creating durable assets. - A standby wage employment to vulnerable people when regular source of income or other alternate employments dies down or become inadequate. - Empowerment of rural poor through the processes of a rights-based law. - Strengthening rural governance through decentralization and the process of transparency and accountability. - Provides unemployment allowances in case of non-allotment of employment. IJRAR19K1006 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 40 © 2019 IJRAR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) The right-based framework of the program makes the government legally bound to provide employment to those who demand it. The study revealed that the launching of MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) in 2005 have given the women in the village a great relief by providing substantial income to every households. The data shows the increasing number of women participation, the increasing person day’s employment per household, and the average wage per person day. Hence, MGNREGA is considered to be a potential force that can transform the backward & rural economy. 1.1 Problems: Tea has been the bedrock of the district economy for more than 150 years. However, since the beginning of this century, there has been a trend in closure of some of the tea gardens in this district. The reasons may be attributed to fall in the international tea prices, and production of poor quality of tea because of aged tea bushes, poor management, and manufacturing technique. Many tea gardens had been locked out or abandoned by the management leaving unpaid salaries and no alternate employment. As a result, thousands of tea garden workers along with their family members were severely affected. There was acute food scarcity, malnutrition, and starvation all over the closed tea gardens. Thus, a high number of deaths occurred due to inadequate food and malnutrition. As per government data, between 1 January 2006 and 31 March 2007, the number of deaths in the North Bengal tea gardens recorded was 571. Out of which 254 were female and 62 were children less than 10 years of age. And, as per unofficial estimates, the total number of deaths during the year 2006-2009 was 2500. The important point to note here is that the cause of death was not due to catastrophic famine or drought, but it was due to the owners of tea gardens who had come into the market to make a quick profit and suddenly abandoned the plantations when times got a little tougher. Several studies have established that poverty was the main cause for such a high number of deaths in the tea gardens of this district. The sample village is therefore not an exception. It has witnessed a number of deaths during the crisis. The tea garden employs over 1300 workers and had undergone closures at least twice in the history of its inception. For the first time the workers got a jerk in the month of October, 1981 when the tea garden was closed for a month. Thereafter, the tea garden went on steadily for quite a long period until the beginning of the year 2000 when the tea garden was suddenly locked out. Since then, the workers and their family members had to undergo the most turbulent phase of their lives. As a result, the socio-economic and human right conditions of the people deteriorated drastically and reached to such an extent that the people started dying of starvation. Deaths record according to plantation dispensary is shown in the table-A. Further, the condition also induced large scale migration, and women & adolescent girl child trafficking. Many youths left the village for work to various places in the country; and many crossed the border into Bhutan to work for a pittance at local construction sites. The most vulnerable among the people were women and children. It was found that many women and adolescent girl child went missing from the village during the recession never to return back. However, majority of them remained in the village waiting for better times, and hoping that ill-fate won’t strike their families. During the crisis, the state government did step in with food and medical aid, but the workers only received less than half the quantity of food they required as many government subsidies were creamed off by corrupt local officials. In fact, the people had to experience outright neglect and callousness. Fact – Finding Report of Centre for Education and Communication (CEC), New Delhi and United Trades Union Congress pointed out that- the Women Workers were the most Sufferers. As the main wage earner of the household the women workers were under tremendous pressure. They were restricted by a lack of skills from joining other income earning activities, and unfavorable conditions for migrating long distances in search of alternate opportunities of work. Many women workers died due to malnutrition and pregnancy related complications during the crisis. The tea garden re-opened on the 23rd of October, 2010 and ever since, the hope of women for brighter days has rekindled. Behind this backdrop, the present study tries to un-fold the impact of MGNREGA in reducing and improving the socio-economic conditions of the laborers in the sample village, and attempts to highlight the difficulties being faced by them in the participation of MGNREGS works. IJRAR19K1006 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 41 © 2019 IJRAR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) Deaths record according to plantation dispensary (Table-A) (Source: Population Research Journal) Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Raimatang Tea Garden 53 41 30 43 63 73 1.2 Main objectives of the study: Following are the main objectives: 1. To assess the impact of MGNREGA on the socio-economic condition of respondents in a tea garden village. 2. To assess the level of awareness about MGNREGA. 3. To study the level of participation in MGNREGS. 4. To study the difficulties faced by them 5. To suggest measures for the attainment of successful implementation of MGNREGA in the tea garden villages. 1.3 Methodology This paper is based on both primary and secondary sources. Primary data has been collected by direct contact method. A pre- structured questionnaire was administered by way of interview to the selected laborers in the six wards of Kalchini Gram Panchayat, Alipurduar. The selection of respondents was made through random sampling. About 182 laborers were interviewed and information on their knowledge, experiences and views about the MGNREGA were collected. Besides, interviews and discussions, observation of the implementation of MGNREGS were also made. It was done by personally visiting the work sites and residences of the respondent laborers of the village. The schedule for selected respondents had been regarded as the main tool in gathering their responses regarding various aspects covered by this study. Secondary data has been obtained from the magazines, news paper, books, journals, thesis and other Government publications. 1.4 Survey Area: The study has been carried out in the four wards of Kalchini Gram Panchayat, in the district of Alipurduar. With a house hold of 50231 and 26205 BPL families, Kalchini block stands at the highest poverty level in the district.