Rural employment to backbone India’s GDP growth; Ministry rewards Rs 6084 crores extra to MGNREGA
The Indian Government has awarded an additional of monetary aggregate Rs. 6084 crores to the rural employment factor of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. This brings the total allocation to the scheme to Rs. 61,084 crores in 2018-19, making it the highest ever allocation. Governance reforms and thrust on sustainable livelihoods through durable assets has ensured better lives for the poor through wages, incomes and durable assets.
Over the last four years, the Ministry of Rural Development has completed major reforms in the MGNREGA to transform it into a resource for sustainable livelihoods for the poor. “The first and foremost requirement was to ensure full transparency in wage payments, asset creation, and payment for materials. It is for this reason that efforts were started for a 100% geo tagging of assets, AADHAAR linking of Bank Accounts, IT/DBT transfers for all wages and material payments and Geographic Information System based planning of works”, reported the statement.
Stressing over the kingpin decision the statement added, “The intention was that work should be visible in the public domain and beneficiaries receive payments in their verified accounts. Further, the Ministry is making sustained efforts to improve the utilization of resources for raising incomes of poor households. The focus is on the diversification of the livelihoods with multiple sources of income for them to come out of poverty.”
The reports display that the generation of payment within 15 days has moved up from 26 percent in 2014-15 to 91 percent in the current, confirming the governance reforms that have made this possible. The National Evaluation Study of the Natural Resource Management interventions of MGNREGA in 2018 by the Institute of Economic Growth, confirmed the gains in incomes, acreage, productivity, water table and fodder availability on account of the NRM works.
“In that evaluation 99.5 per cent assets were found to be very good, a proxy for the success of the governance reforms undertaken”, said the Institute of Economic Growth.
The Government is committed to MGNREGA scheme for improving the lives of the poor households through a well governed programme with a thrust on durable assets, sustainable livelihoods and infrastructure for the poor. More financial resources will be asked for if needed, at the time of the Final Estimates, depending on the demand for wage employment.
MGNREGA is a flagship programme of the Ministry which addresses poverty in a holistic manner by overcoming social inequalities and creating a base for sustainable & long term development. Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is transforming rural India into a more productive, equitable and connected society. It has provided nearly 235 crore person days in the last three years, each year. This year as well, it will be around the same making it four years of consistent high performance on wage employment with durable assets for sustainable livelihoods.
COURTESY :- NEWS BHARATI
