Why villagers in West Jaintia Hills quit agriculture for MGNREGA

Several times in my work across rural and remote Meghalaya, I have seen that community members’ lack of awareness about government schemes is confused with corruption.  

Grassroots Shillong, the nonprofit that I am part of, works on indigenous rights with a focus on healthcare. We work closely with ASHAs, anganwadis, and the local governance systems to familiarise people with their entitlements and health rights. To do this, meetings are organised with communities, and we usually encounter similar issues. 

In 2015, I was at a meeting with the Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHNSC) in Shella village, East Khasi Hills. Every village has a VHNSC, but not many people know why. At the meeting, the village headman told us that the committee had received INR 10,000 from the government, but they didn’t know what to do with it. He said, “Nobody explained what we need to do with the money. So, we built a pigsty with it.” They did so not because they wanted to misuse the funds, but simply because no one explained how the money was meant to support community health.  

In 2019–20, when we visited West Jaintia Hills district, we saw the same situation play out with MGNREGA, which is a livelihoods scheme meant to provide employment during the dry season when farming slows down. However, no one informed the villagers. Now, many people take up MGNREGA work even during the cultivation season. The problem arises when people give up agriculture entirely to do this. There are also those who manage to strike a balance and increase household income; for example, in some families, the husband works on the farm and the wife goes for MGNREGA work.     

But social benefits should not be dependent on such workarounds.  

Currently, the onus seems to be entirely on the communities, and they have no tools to make the system work in their favour. I wish the government informed people and involved them as active participants in their development.  

Mayfereen Ryntathiang is the president at Grassroots Shillong. 

As told to Samme Massar, IDR Northeast Fellow 2025–26.  

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Know more: Learn why a village in Meghalaya pooled money to buy back their land.  

Do more: Connect with the author at grassroot2007@gmail.com to learn more about and support her work.