The UPA government's flagship employment guarantee programme can play an important role in conserving natural resources and sustaining water supply and food production, according to a study. Conceived to provide livelihood security for the rural poor, the scheme can also help reduce and counter the impact of climate change in villages, according to the study, "Environmental Benefits and Vulnerability Reduction through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme" by IISc, Bangalore in collaboration with the rural development ministry and the German international co-operation agency, GIZ. It studied four districts that represent diverse agro-climatic and socio-economic characteristics — Medak in Andhra Pradesh, Chitradurga in Karnataka, Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, and Bhilwara in Rajasthan.
It found that about 80% of the works taken up under NREGA involved natural resources such as surface and ground water, crop lands, soil and wastelands. Efforts at water conservation, drought proofing, renovation of traditional water bodies have contributed to improved ground water levels, increased water availability for irrigation, increase in irrigated land. According to the study, improvement in soil quality and reduction in erosion have also been reported. Its positive impact has translated into increased crop production.
This could well be a boon for the vast rural population that depends on agriculture but is too poor to invest in improving land and water quality. Some studies show that over the next 150 years, unchecked climate change could mean that monsoon rainfall, the crucial input for food production in India, may fall short by 40%-70%. Already, changing rainfall patterns are beginning to impact the lives of agriculture-dependent people in countries like India.
The study found that works taken up as part of NREGA's job portfolio helped maintain ground water levels, aiding crop productivity. The study reports that ground water level in 2012 were in the range of the measurements recorded by the Central Ground Water Board in 2006-07— indicating that despite increased extraction water levels in villages that set up check dams, percolation tanks, and desilted existing tanks had either increased or remained at the same level as the pre-NREGA period. The most remarkable contribution was that of improved drinking water availability. Households in the four districts reported that increase in the number of water bodies, ground water levels and number of days of water availability from other sources had resulted in a rise in water usage. In the Chitradurga district of Karnataka, villages had used the programme to construct dedicated cattle ponds and troughs.
Taking up works like land leveling, silt application, drought proofing, pasture development under the employment scheme has, according to the study, improved the content of organic carbon of soil and reduced top soil erosion. Of the 899 sample plots studied, 72% reported improved soil carbon content compared to plots where no such effort had been made. Most of the villagers would have been unable to undertake any similar improvement measure on their own. As a result of improvements in water and land, there has been an increase in area under cultivation. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, previously uncultivable lands are now being farmed, while in rainfed Dhar, agriculture is no longer a one crop affair. In Dhar, the land under cultivation in the Rabi season has also increased from 43.5% to 102.5%.
It has recommended that the programme continues to focus on natural resources and prioritises creation of community assets and resources. Beyond creation, it suggested that equal attention be paid to maintenance of assets, such as check dams, irrigation tanks, canals, community grazing lands. This would ensure that gains in livelihood are sustained. Another intervention that has been suggested is the creation of an information base, which would help villages to ensure that assets are mapped and their maintenance monitored. This would guarantee that assets once created do not fall into disuse.
