Indore: The coronavirus outbreak and the resultant economic slowdown has forced an engineer and 15 graduates from Khargone in Madhya Pradesh to work in a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) project, a scheme originally envisaged for the rural poor, while preparing for civil service exams.
Sachin Yadav (24), a civil engineer from a poor family, says he wants to become a deputy collector but lack of jobs during the lockdown has forced him to work in MGNREGA project of digging a pond in Gowadi village, 150 kilometres from here.
"I passed my civil engineering exams in 2018-19. Before the lockdown, I was staying in Indore and preparing for the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) exams as I want to become a deputy collector, However, my coaching class shut due to the outbreak and I returned here after being stranded in Indore for a while," he told a news agency on Tuesday.
"I am preparing for the exams along with working in the village as a labourer, a choice I made as there is no other means of employment. I have worked here for more than a month and get Rs 190 for an 8-hour shift every day," he added.