NREGS workers graduate as a productive force

Anantapur-Puttaparthi: National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which started off as an employment guarantee programme for rural jobless, during the past 10 years has graduated into a scheme creating community and public assets including laying of roads and construction of public buildings including boosting rural infrastructure.

NREGS greatest contribution is assets creation in every village apart from supporting rural economy through payment of wages for 100 days to more than 4 lakh rural workers.

As many as four lakh workers, who are the job card holders, are being benefitted by NREGS in Anantapur district. Horticulture, sericulture, animal husbandry and fisheries schemes are also brought under its ambit.

Last year, Rs 297.85 crore had been disbursed to 2.8 lakh workers as wages and Rs 203.05 crore on materiel component. Altogether Rs 500.9 crore were spent on labour and on materiel in building social infrastructure. In the current year, so far Rs 100 crore has been spent on wages component. The target for the current year is Rs 302 crore under wages component.

As part of creating social infrastructure, 515 km of cc roads were laid in villages last year apart from building 400 Anganwadi buildings. In the current year, a target was fixed to lay 2,861 km of cc roads under NREGS scheme. As of now, roads for a stretch of 2,000 km were laid while the remaining will be completed by the end of present fiscal. Against the district MLAs’ proposal to lay 15,000 km roads in their respective constituencies, only 4,000 km roads has been sanctioned. Similarly, 299 cattle, goats and sheep shelters have been sanctioned in 32 mandals.

Horticulture plantations in 7,639 acres had been proposed while plantation in 5,000 acres have been completed. Plantation is in progress in 781 acres. Also, 31 fishponds had been dug in 12 mandals. The wages per day is Rs 300 per day.

District Water Management Agency (DWAMA) Project Director Venugopal Reddy told The Hans India that there is scope for extending NREGS works for solid waste management programme in panchayats, building of shandies in mandals and for establishment of children parks. He said the NREGS is immensely contributing to creation of community assets.

In previous year, works worth Rs 549.33 crore were taken up, including 24 Stree Sakthi bhavans, planting one crore saplings as part of social forestry, maintenance of plantations in 30,110 acres, 500 water troughs for cattle, promotion of mulberry plantations in 1,000 acres and in execution of 31 solid waste management projects in rural areas. The wage rate being paid to men and women workers include Rs 300 per day apart from

other allowances.

District Collector Dr Vinod Kumar’s resolve to achieve the feat of transforming NREGS work force into a community and nation-building work force and the commitment of DWMA Project Director in monitoring of the project through his field visits and motivating his subordinate staff is paying rich dividends. NREGS has a unique 2 lakh women worker force, contributing

to family economy.