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| Haryana falls short of NREGA targets |
| Komal Amit Gera / New Delhi/ Chandigarh Sep 22, 2009, 00:55 IST |
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The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) may be able to divert the labour of traditionally backward states to the greener pastures but Haryana does not have enough seekers for the employment programme.
According to the information from the Department of Rural Development, Haryana fell short of the target in utilising funds as the number of applicants were insufficient.
The statistical information from the department showed that the state could utilise only Rs 52.35 crore out of Rs 58.20 crore funds earmarked under NREGA in 2007-08.
Similarly, out of Rs 160.12 crore available, the amount spent under NREGA was Rs 110.00 crore in 2008-09. This clearly reflects 70 per cent utilisation of the available funds.
The official said 672 projects had been completed since the inception under NREGA.
The number of cards issued in the financial year 2007-08 were to 161,000 households and 217,000 households in 2008-09.
In the current financial year, up to August 2009; 26,846 households have been issued the cards.
The state has approved a labour budget of Rs 220 crore from the Union Ministry of Rural Development and this is for the first time that a labour budget has been sanctioned in advance, which is subject to revision, if required.
The scope of NREGA has been enlarged which may help the state to fully absorb the funds. The official added that the above would include land development, irrigation facilities and horticulture plantation which has been permitted to small and marginal farmers.
In Haryana, out of 1.5 million farmers, 998,000 are small and marginal farmers. So, the expansion of the scheme is likely to trigger better reach out.
The departments concerned have instructed the district administration to get the work approved from the Gram Sabhas concerned and include it in their annual action plan.
The wage rate in Haryana is Rs 151 per day which was revised on July 2009 from Rs 148 per day.
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