Learning to Dream Again: The Successful Implementation of MGNREG in Balimundi, Paschim Midnapore

With detailed planning of the processes of implementation of MNREGA, and collaboration among the people, the gram panchayat and PRADAN, the villagers are witnessing changes on different fronts—from an increase in assets and in knowledge about agricultural practices to enhanced production, leading to financial and food security.

R ajani Singh of village Baksa is a happy man. His daughter has just got married and the ceremony went peacefully without any financial hitch. “This has been possible because of my earnings from the MGNREGA work,” he says. Last year, Rajani Singh and his daughter earned Rs 14,000 as wage labour. His neighbour, Barju Singh, and his family earned Rs 17,000. He is now confident that his sons’ educational expenses can be met now. The stories of these families are not exceptions in Balimundi sansad of Arrah gram panchayat (GP). Ashok Kumar Rana, the panchayat Secretary, refers to the records of the panchayat and says that the families of this sansad have had, on an average, 98 days of work.

Balimundi sansad of Arrah gram panchayat is one of the remote pockets of the Nayagram block in Paschim Midnapore district. It comprises five villages with a total population of 1,212 families; more than 90 per cent of them belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs). Table 1 depicts the data of the successful implementation of the MGNREGA. Approximately 31.43 per cent of the total expenses of the panchayat under MGNREGA have been utilized by the sansad. In December 2009, the District Magistrate (DM) of Paschim Midnapore district, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, invited Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), a national level NGO, to work in this area. It was a collaborative project under MGNREGA. The main focus of this partnership between the district administration and PRADAN has been to help the panchayat in the large-scale planning required under MGNREGA and to motivate the villagers to participate in it, and make its implementation successful. Another area of focus has been to find a convergence between the MGNREGA work and the livelihood needs of the people.