Drought-hit villages to get 150 days of work under job scheme
Centre has sanctioned 50 additional workdays under the national rural job scheme for 4151 villages in 13 drought-affected districts of Rajasthan.
“Relief to drought-affected areas of Rajasthan…In addition to 100 workdays provided under Mahatma Gandhi (National) Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 50 more workdays are sanctioned for 4151 drought-affected villages of 41 tehsils in 13 districts of Rajasthan,” union minster for rural development Narendra Singh Tomar had tweeted on January 3.
The state rural development department has issued a circular to the district collectors to provide 150 mandays of work in the villages of Rajasthan by the end of 2017-18 fiscal.
A senior official of the rural development department said the state government had declared the districts drought-affected considering rainfall deficiency, decline in availability of ground and surface water, poor crop conditions, and parameters related to remote sensing during the 2017 kharif season.
The 13 drought-affected districts are Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Churu, Dungarpur, Shri Ganganagar, Hanumagarh, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Sawai Madhopur.
Fearing adverse impact on agriculture operations, the state government had requested Centre in December 2017 to sanction additional mandays of work in drought-affected areas. “The request has been accepted for the notified drought-affected regions,” the official said. “Additional 50 mandays will be given to those who have completed 100 days of work; not many have completed 100 workdays.”
The department has also demanded that the Centre release over ₹525 crore of MNREGS funds for 2017-18. “The fund pending comprises over ₹400 crore for material component and 20 mandays’ wages of ₹125 crore,” the official said. “Rajasthan last year stood second across India in terms of providing mandays. Though the delay in release of fund is not affecting the work, funds have not been received in comparison to the expenditure.”
JAIPUR:The