Team News Riveting
Ranchi, January 17
In pursuit of encompassing the maximum number of the female workforce in the implementation of schemes under MGNREGA, the state government is providing training to women labourers to work as female mates at the worksites.
To ensure that unskilled women labourers become skilled/semi-skilled and get guaranteed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, unskilled women labourers are being trained to work as female mates on the MGNREGA worksite. Also, to maximize the number of participants the government has directed officials to ensure that 50 per cent of total mates trained and employed under MGNREGA are female.
As per the guidelines issued by the state government, every mate being selected for the training will be given free training by the officials at the block level, which includes, Block Programme Manager, Junior Engineer, Gram Rojgar Sewaks, members of the cluster facilitation team and qualified members from state resource team. During the three day training period, these mates are being trained about the history of MGNREGA & labour rights, worksite management, minimum facilities required at the worksite, job cards, payment process, technical training to use measuring tapes, work calculation, daily work progress monitoring, preparation of daily attendance report, muster roll management and other technical aspects.
The training is aimed at creating a semi skilled women workforce across the state. At the end of the training, these female mates are given a mate kit which includes measuring tape, muster roll register, a copy of guidelines, job card application form, notebook, pen and daily mate measurement sheet.
The selection of mates is done with the help of Gram Sabha. In the selection, members from women self-help groups, who have studied till the 7th standard, are given priority. Also, members from Scheduled tribes & Scheduled caste groups are being prioritized. In villages where the cluster facilitation team is active, only female mates will be selected to work as mates. In a village/tola, with 40 households one mate will be selected for the work progress monitoring.
A large number of the MGNREGA workforce in Jharkhand includes women from rural areas of Jharkhand. These women are less aware of their rights at the workplace and are hesitant to speak up. To ensure that the rights of every labourer are safeguarded, women mates have been trained about the required facilities at the workplace such as; clean drinking water facility, shed, creche facility for women, medical kit and
equipment required for the better implementation of the scheme. If any of these facilities are not available at the worksite, the female mate is responsible to inform the Block programme manager or nearest higher authority about the requirement.
Also, these mates have been trained to guide manual labourers about the measurement of the scheme, the right place to dispose of carved soil, what is the objective of the work and how to get it done with better efficiency.
At the end of every day, the female mate measures the work progress and the attendance of labourers at the worksite. Additionally, A daily work progress report is prepared to ensure fair work progress.
In the FY 2021-22, more than 88, 939 female mates have been selected and trained across the state.
“Under the able leadership of honourable chief minister, we are working on maximizing the participation of women workforce in MGNREGA and making them semi skilled. Also, we aim at creating a women friendly work environment at our MGNREGA worksites and sensitizing people about labour rights. Given this, we are taking multiple steps to achieve the desired goal,” says Rajeshwari B, Commissioner MGNREGA, Jharkhand.
