N
But it hasn’t. The reason: she can’t wait for a fortnight for the NREGA cheque to arrive. "I can’t fend for my family for so long without wages. I’ve to pay Rs 125 every week to a moneylender in Tamil Nadu. I buy provisions and clothes on credit, which have to be paid back periodically. If I didn’t have to wait for a fortnight, I would have joined a project under NREGA," explains Nalini. The fortnightly cheque payments, though well-intended to ensure workers don’t blow up the daily wages, work against the interests of people like Nalini.
