Though the Act will not be changed as of now, but the new guidelines will be simplified – Jairam Ramesh

INVC,,

Delhi,,

Union Minister for Rural Development Shri Jairam Ramesh said, delay in the payment of wages to workers is the biggest problem facing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, MGNREGA. Addressing a meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee on MGNREGA attached to his Ministry here last evening, he said, complaints have come mainly from states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where wages were not paid in some areas ranging from nine months to a year. Shri Ramesh said, flexibility in the guidelines, special focus in naxal-infested areas and skill development programmes will be the three priority areas in future implementation of the rural job scheme. He said, widespread consultations including with the Chief Ministers of the States are on and soon the new guidelines will be issued. He said, though the Act will not be changed as of now, but the new guidelines will be simplified. Dwelling on the issues of transparency, the Minister apprised the members of the new initiatives like strengthening of the audit mechanism, effective deployment of dedicated staff, more coverage of banks and post offices and the lab-to-land initiative of the Ministry.

During the meeting, the members raised the issues like fake job cards and muster rolls in some of the states, lesser mandays of work allocated than the mandatory 100 days work and enhancement of minimum wages to the workers.

The members cutting across all political parties expressed concern over the audit mechanism and called for effective Central Monitoring of the Scheme. To address the problem of wage disbursal, the members mainly from the hilly states and naxal affected areas underlined the need for mobile banking system. The Minister appreciated the suggestions of the members and assured them that their views will be accommodated in framing the new guidelines to be rolled out soon.

In his concluding remarks, Secretary, Rural Development, Shri B.K.Sinha said, several new models have emerged in the implementation of MGNREGA and mentioned about Shrama Sakthi Sanghas in Andhra Pradesh, where more than one Crore labourers were registered for skill building programmes. He said, the 2nd Phase of MGNREGA can usher in the second Green Revolution as land improvement will be the new component in the job scheme, which will help the small and marginal farmers to augment their income. Shri Sinha said, out of 150 million hectares of land only 50 million hectares is irrigated and the new guidelines even on private land improvement will bring in a revolution of sorts in the rural India. He also informed the members that with Biometric signatures and other technological improvements, the problem of leakages can be addressed effectively.

The meeting was attended by Ministers of State, Shri Pradeep Jain, Shri Sisir Adhikari, Ms Agatha Sangma and senior officials of the Ministry of Rural Development. The members, who attended the meeting include Ms. Annu Tandon, Shri Bhupindra Singh, Shri Harish Choudhary, Sardarni Harsimarat Kaur Badal, Shri Jairam Pangi, Shri Kamal Kishore, Shri Lal Chand Kataria, Shri Narayan Singh Amlabe, Shri Pradeep Tamta, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Dr. Tarun Mandal, Shri Shetti Raju Alias Devappanna (All from Lok Sabha) and Dr. Vijaylaxmi Sadho from Rajya Sabha.