Centre to release water conservation report

rural development ministry to also seek more funds over and above Rs 38,500 crore allocated in 2016-17 Budget for such works

To ensure majority of the funds allocated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is spent on water conservation-related works, the Centre is planning to come out with a performance outcome report of such works done in 2015-16.

That apart, the rural development ministry is planning to approach the finance department for more funds over and above the Rs 38,500 crore allocated in the 2016-17 Budget for such works. Of this, around Rs 23,000 crore has already been released with the remaining to be exhausted soon.

NO DILUTION OF EFFORTS

• Centre plans  performance audit of water conservation under MNREGS
• The audit report will be for FY16
• Rural development ministry might need more funds for MNREGS
• All MNREGS workers will be seeded with Aadhaar by August

“We might need another Rs 10,000 crore for FY17 for the works depending on the monsoon,” said a senior official. The outcome report, meanwhile, will list out the initiatives that states have taken towards building farm ponds, canals, bunds, revitalising traditional water resources, and other such projects. “This time around, we are not only asking for a financial performance appraisal from the states, but also want to know what work they have done with the annual MGNREGS funds, particularly in conservation of water, which is a priority area for the government,” said the official.

He said the report would be released by end-June, which will also enable the Centre to share the best practices with states ahead of the 2016 southwest monsoon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent discussion with the chief ministers of 10 states on the prevailing drought-like situation, had called upon them to put extra focus on conservation of water during the coming monsoon season so that future water scarcities can be avoided. The Centre had earmarked a target of construction around 800,000 farm ponds in 2016-17 through MGNREGS. According to the official cited above, to smoothen the process of identification and disbursal of wages to MGNREGS workers, the Centre plans to seed all the MGNREGS job cards with Aadhaar numbers by August.

Till date, of the 105 million MGNREGS workers, around 68 million have their cards seeded with Aadhaar.

“All these will ensure there is timely payment of wages to MGNREGS workers,” the official added. A high-powered panel of experts constituted by the Centre had identified delayed wage payments under MGNREGS as a matter of grave concern, which is impacting the programme’s spirit. The panel submitted its report to the government recently. In MNREGS, Centre shares full cost of workers’ wages and 75 per cent of the material cost, while the states bear the remaining.