MNREGA work brings change in life

Sughari Devi ( w/o Sh. Shyam Lal ) belongs to the Kol community and is a resident of gram panchayat Songhada , Hallia block, Mirzapur district. Total number of members in her family is six. She has three beegha un-irrigated land by which rain-based thick grains were cultivated for 3-4 months only. Rest of their livelihood was entirely based on labour work. Awareness drives  regarding MNREGA was initiated by Arthik Anusandhan Kendra in the area. Efforts were made for preparing participatory action plans  for the development of permanent livelihoods . Efforts were made at gram panchayat level, block level and community level. The outcome was that in most of the gram panchayats, MNREGA work plan for 2011-12 and 2012-13  was prepared  with the active participation of the community in the Gram Sabha meetings. Work plan was also made for Gram Panchayat Songhada in 2011-12. Under that work plan, a well was constructed in the farm of Sughari Devi/Shyam Lal by which the entire land was irrigated. Earlier, only one crop was cultivated, but now it was possible to cultivate two crops and the productivity increased by four times. Now, the grains are sufficient to feed her family for the entire year and also she is able to sell the extra grains. Now, her family is totally dependent on agriculture and when they are free from farming activities, they work under MNREGA in the gram panchayat. The family’s dependence on labour work has been eliminated and she has become a self-reliant farmer.

Cropping after land bunding