Urban jobs ministry flayed for unused funds

The urban employment and poverty alleviation ministry has drawn flak from a parliamentary committee for failing to utilise over Rs 300 crore under a central government-sponsored employment scheme.

"The reason advanced by the ministry in support of the huge unspent balance is not satisfactory," the standing committee on urban development said in its 13th report presented to the Lok Sabha last week.

The 48-page report found the reply to be "very cursory" and suggested that the ministry should make sincere efforts to impress upon the states and union territories to expedite utilisation of the unspent funds effectively under the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) at the earliest so as to achieve the physical targets.

While appreciating the move to revise the guidelines of the scheme in terms of the share of the states and the Centre for 11 special category states, the committee headed by Mohd Salim suggested that the government should extend the facility to all states when the modifications fructify.

On some states failing to carry out house-to-house survey for identifying persons below poverty line, the committee said it was a "serious matter" as the benefits did not reach the deserving people in the absence of such a list.

Referring to the task force set up to look into the issue of micro-credit to the urban poor, the panel said the task force should expedite the finalisation of its report.

Keeping in view the high magnitude of urban employment, the committee said it was a "matter of great concern" that the states and Union Territories were still to accord the required priority to SJSRY.

The panel said that being the nodal ministry, it should encourage the states and uts to accord the required priority to the scheme. It stressed that there should be periodic and effective interaction with states and uts lagging behind in the implementation of sjsry, particularly with states like Goa, Jharkhand and Delhi.

On the oft-quoted complaint of non-cooperation of banks, the committee suggested that the ministry should go in-depth into the nature of such complaints received so far, particularly during the last five years, and work out a solution in close collaboration with the agencies concerned.