In the last week of 2009 I happened to visit a site where NREGS activities were being carried out, and I happened to talk to the workers employed there about the economic, social, and religious issues that impact them.  While my purpose of the chat with the workers was mainly economic, a few issues relating to religion emerged, which I purpose to bring to light here. (For those interested in the economic issues we discussed about, look out for the article on my blog, which I intend to put up in the near future).

For the unacquainted, ‘NREGS’ stands for ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme’, and it promises to provide work for the rural unemployed workers in India for 100 days a year, and pay them up to Rs 100 a day, subject to completion of work. The workers who seek jobs under this scheme are usually the poorest who have no other alternatives. Read the full story