Rajasamund: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Program has its detractors. There are those who point out that it is not working well or is too expensive.
But here is a story from Rajasthan, on how the scheme has become a safety net in times of recession.
Economics aside, this has political implications -- in Rajasthan, not just the Congress, even the BJP was competing to take credit for its success.
For 20 years Kesar Singh polished diamonds in Surat Today along with his wife he breaks stones in his village. But he is grateful he has work.
"There was no work in the unit since Diwali. I knew no other skill apart from polishing diamonds, so I came back to the village, and now work under NREGA for Rs 100 per day," he says.
Singh's daily income in Surat was Rs 250. Now he makes Rs 100.
All it takes is recession to shift perspectives on NREGA, from being labelled a white elephant to being appreciated as a safety net.
In one single block alone, at least 100 workers who lost their jobs in Gujarat's diamond industry, have found work under NREGA. So did they vote for the Congress?
They credit Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan for the programme.
Congress' hopes of making political capital out of NREGA work may not materialise.