Left high and dry

The COVID-19 lockdown has increased the curve of unemployment in India. At the time of the economic crisis, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) had offered employment opportunities to thousands of families in most of the villages we operate in. It had become the sole income source for most of the migrant workers who were running out of money and jobs. But the support no longer exists; most of the households are struggling now to make ends meet. A Gram Vikas survey shows that 37 percent of households, out of 15,595 households in more than 70 gram panchayats, reported no work under NREGA in April and May 2021.

Gram Vikas is a social development organisation working in Odisha and Jharkhand since 1979.

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Know more: Read more about some of the issues plaguing NREGA during the pandemic.