RAMPAL Singh Yadav, 25, moves with an air of purpose on his crutches, supervising the stone-crushing work by a nearly 80-strong group laying a road in Sunela gram pan-chayat, Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh. An intermediate student, Yadav is among a handful of young men with varying physical disabilities who have been trained to work as supervisors, popularly known as 'mates', and guaranteed 100 days of unskilled employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (nrega). In Karauli district of Rajasthan, officials point out that in June this year, 1,20,000 people got work. But with harvest under way, only 40-50,000 are engaged in nrega projects now. Many farmers have also benefited here, as the Act allows funds to be allocated for individual land development. But in the second year of nrega, the overall on-the-ground realities are still dismal. "Workers continue to face payment delays, or are not paid the minimum wages. In many districts, there are no projects to allocate work. If the work isn't available immediately after harvest, villagers migrate to other areas in search of jobs," explains Rajesh Tan