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Permanent Job

  • 30/10/1998

Permanent Job A group of Bhil villagers, living in the dry and parched Aravalli hilts near Udaipur, told the authors, "We have been strictly warned by our local leader never to ask for a pucca (metalled) road to our village, because what will we then make year after year as part of the sarkari (government) employment and drought-relief works?" The rains will wash away the unmetalled (temporary) road and the villagers can get back to making another road in the next dry season.

As a result everybody is happy. The local leader gets his share of the kickback. So do the local officials. The people are happy too because every year they are assured of both work and an income in a region where the land yields little to them. But, as a result, the purpose of rural employment programme, which is to create durable assets for the rural areas, goes for a six.

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