Against guidelines for the scheme, aimed at empowering women through ensuring their share in income, on an average only 18 per cent women are getting employment in the most populated state of the country.
Expressing the state government’s concern over the situation, Rural Development Commissioner, Manoj Kumar has asked all district magistrates to take measures so that more rural women get employment under the scheme.
In a letter sent to all DMs, the Rural Development Commissioner has stressed on the fact that there was no paucity of funds and opportunities as jobs were aplenty, but still the required number of women were not getting work under the scheme.
According to reports emanating from MGNREGS work sites in the state, the reasons behind the low participation of women were mainly because of the bias against women and their inferior status in society.
Women are never employed in certain works, like digging of wells, which are traditionally considered as men’s work. Moreover, in cases where more than needed workers reach a work site in the morning, then men are preferred for work by the panchayat officials and women are sent back to their homes, a senior official in the state
administration, monitoring MGNREGS, said.
In east UP and Bundelkhand, where male domination is more prevalent, the participation of women in the scheme is about zero in some places, he added.
Reportedly most of the women are sorted out even at the initial stage of the implementation of the scheme as their names are deliberately not mentioned in the job cards. They are seldom asked to open a separate bank account which proves to be a major hurdle in giving them work as wages are directly deposited in a worker’s account according to the norms.
Besides, the complaints of panchayat officials not cooperating with women and taking them on work only when males are not available are very common.
Notably in 2007 only 15 per cent women got employed under MGNREGS.
However, the numbers increased to 21 per cent in 2010 but still it is far from the stipulated mark of 33 per cent, reflecting their social status in rural areas.