Members of Vikalangula Shrama Shakti Sanghalu, under MGNREGS, can choose works which suit their needs and abilities
Despite being visually impaired, Kandi Devidas works under MGNREGS along with VSSS members at Kapri village of Jainad mandal in Adilabad district on Tuesday.
Creating separate work groups for disabled wage seekers, the Vikalangula Shrama Shakti Sanghalu (VSSS), under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, has greatly impacted the lives of many in Adilabad. On their own now, they can plan and choose works which suit their needs and abilities.
The nearly 6,000 workers with different disabilities, who are working in various VSSS in the district, have logged a record of over 80,000 man days within a period of just one month to draw a payment of nearly Rs. 1.15 crore. “Many of them have even bagged awards for putting in maximum hours of work,” reveals District Coordinator (Disabled), M. Venugopal at the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) who looks after the implementation of the MGNREGS works.
“I am happy clearing bushes and making pebble bunds in this group. It is easier than digging hard earth with my handicap which I had to do in the general group earlier,” observes, a visually-challenged member of Krushi Group at Kapri in Jainad mandal, Kandi Devidas, as he speaks of the change in his life. “Last year, the disabled wage seekers were formed into the VSSS. This was done to ease the situation for them by relaxing work norms,” says the DWMA Project Director T. Vinay Krishna Reddy.
The members of VSSS have to put in only 70 per cent of work to draw total wages. Raising nurseries, institutional and avenue plantation, bush clearance, etc. are some of the works earmarked for the VSSS which do not demand more amount of physical labour.
The homogenous composition of the VSSS also seems to have developed camaraderie among members such as in Narasimha Group at Kapri where even a mentally-disabled member, Kusuma Mahender, contributes his mite. “We always have someone working close to him so that help is at hand,” says Kuntala Renuka, a wage seeker who has lost four fingers on her right hand.
6,000 workers with different disabilities working in various VSSS have recorded over 80,000 man days within a month drawing a payment of nearly Rs. 1.15 crore
Source : The Hindu , 8th May 2013
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