Sobhapati Samom
CHURACHANDPUR, April 30
Introduction of the central sponsored scheme such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MNREGA) has brought certain changes in the economy of Manipur’s Churachandpur district bordering Mizoram and Myanmar.“Besides unlike other districts, it (MNREGA) helps to bring back the displaced villagers during the ethnic clashes in early ninties, to their native villages in the district,” says Deputy Commissioner Lunminthang Haokip. “So in short you can say this scheme brings changes here.” Thousands of villagers were displaced during ethnic violence in Manipur particularly in Churachandpur from 1992-1998.Most of these displaced villagers finally landed in the state capital which is about 100 to 150 km away from their native villages, for their livelihood by posing themselves as manual workers while some pulling rickshaws or selling charcoals.
After the introduction of the scheme in Churachandpur, all of a sudden the Kuki rickshaw pullers have vanished from Imphal town and started resettling in their respective native villages, the DC Lunminthang added.
Sharing a similar sentiment Project Officer Joycy Lalrinpui of District Rural Dedevlopment Agencies (DRDA), Churachandpur said that this trend was reported mostly in Thanlon and Henglep blocks of the district.
DRDA is a principal organ at the District level to oversee the implementation of different anti-poverty programme.
Resettlement of villagers led by their respective village chiefs were reported in Henglep, Suangpha, Kolhen, Kamkeilon, Thingkhangjang, Aina, Santing , Molgen, N Molngat, Mualdak, N Saikot, Tuilumjang, Thingken, Vungbuh, Thenjol,Tuikot,Dojang,D Munlei and Damjol etc.
Incidentally we can also see changes not only in infrastructure development in the villages but in buying essential commodities, clearing educational fees for their children with their daily wages, DRDA official further informed. Above all development of inter-village road and improvement of the drainage systems in the villages are common infrastructure development sights after MNREGA was introduced in the hill district dominated by Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities.
However the with the sudden reduction of the funding pattern, the number of working days has been reduced from 100 to 20 days in the current year even though there are 57,000 job card holders across 818 villages under 10 blocks of the district which was once awarded the National Award for the best performing district under MNREGA in the category of `Community Mobilisation and Participation for Livelihood Generation’ 2009-10 by the Union Rural Development Ministry on February 2, 2011.
Now the people of Churachandpur have urged the central authority to continue MNREGA in the district as done in Maoist affected areas of central India so that it can help bring tribals into mainstream.
