Karnataka’s rural employment scheme generated 2.04 crore person-days of work between July 1 and October 13, up from 1.71 crore during the same period last year, Rural Development Minister Eshwar Khandre said on Wednesday. The programme has expanded access to work for rural poor households, Dalit workers and landless labourers amid reduced rainfall attributed by the minister to El Niño conditions.
Khandre shared the figures after reviewing the scheme’s progress with officials. Raichur led all districts with 24 lakh person-days generated since July 1, followed by Bidar with 21 lakh and Koppal with 18 lakh, according to the minister’s statement.
Several districts recorded sharp year-on-year increases in employment generation. Vijayanagara reported a 340% rise, Kalaburagi 257%, Koppal 207%, Ballari 175% and Bidar 173%, Khandre said. The figures point to greater dependence on publicly supported rural work in parts of north Karnataka, where irregular rainfall can affect agricultural activity and seasonal incomes.
The state also issued 87,164 new job cards this year after combining e-KYC exercises with job-card camps. According to Khandre, the move has helped families that would otherwise migrate obtain employment closer to their homes. The minister said the programme would now place greater emphasis on constructing houses, community halls and rural bus stands.
Under the scheme, a household can receive up to 125 days of employment in a year. The daily wage is ₹382 for both women and men, allowing a family to earn up to ₹47,750 annually if it receives the full allocation of work, Khandre said.
The minister said the state was generating an average of 2.5 lakh person-days every day and had 86,042 works under way during the current financial year. He reported that employment had been provided to 195,871 Scheduled Caste households, involving 302,153 workers, and to 141,449 Scheduled Tribe households, involving 228,200 unskilled workers. Women accounted for 85,71,58 workers, according to the figures released at the meeting.
Of the 2.04 crore person-days generated since July 1, Scheduled Caste workers received 39.97 lakh person-days, Scheduled Tribe workers 29.62 lakh and women workers approximately 1.12 crore person-days, Khandre said. The department reported 497 works as completed and 85,048 as ongoing. These work-status figures, as reported by the minister, do not fully add up to the stated total of 86,042 works.
The next phase will focus on continuing employment generation and expanding the types of rural public assets created through the programme, including housing, community facilities and rural bus infrastructure, according to the minister’s statement.
