MGNREGA and Livelihoods – the Story of an Orchard

Developing a mango orchard in a hither to barren tract of land with the landless households of jharia kocha in gopalpura proves to be not only a revenue generating model but also a rights-based initiative.

W ith monetary coverage available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and institutional and technical support from Pradan, more than 144 landless households of Jharia Kocha in Gopalpura panchayat have established a sprawling mango orchard over 20 hectares of erstwhile barren land. In early 2008, the landless SC/ST households, which were accustomed to migrating every summer in search of labour succeeded in securing tenure over a single contiguous plot of barren land. This was achieved by affecting a lease arrangement with the 66 landowner families of the same village.

The plot had received little attention from the landowners because they held substantial stretches of fertile and more productive lands elsewhere. The landless SC/ST households, on their part, were either engaged as agricultural labourers or domestic help in the homes of these landowners. On occasions, they would be hired, for measly amounts, in house building or shed construction activities, or to harvest the fish produce from the village water body (pukur). The landowners exercised exclusive rights even over the water of the pukur. The landless households, being resource-poor and having limited avenues for earning money save the alternative to migrate, were known to regularly approach the landowners for loans to celebrate occasions, fulfill social obligations or even to meet their subsistence needs for food and clothing.