Kiran asks Jairam to widen rural scope

HYDERABAD:  In order to widen the scope of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy wants to include more works under it to benefit the rural population. Kiran Kumar, when he met union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday, felt that unskilled labour in housing activities under the rural housing programme, clearing of debris and cleaning of village drains under the village sanitation programme could be brought under the ambit of the MGNREGS.A press release from the chief minister’s office on Sunday said that Kiran Kumar also suggested that vegetable cultivation and sericulture programmes in SC/ST lands, unskilled wages in construction of biogas plants and providing 150 days wage employment to vulnerable sections of the population not be left out from the scheme.The chief minister also appraised Jairam Ramesh that Andhra Pradesh has been in the forefront in successfully implementing the MGNREGS.  Under the programme, a record number of 1.22 crore job cards have been issued in 22 districts of the state covering 1,098 mandals. 183 lakh individuals in 91,33,801 households have been provided employment in 69,002 habitations of 21,860 gram panchayats, he said.The total expenditure incurred so far includes Rs 16,585 crores of which total wage expenditure is Rs 12,414 crores while the material component amounts to Rs 3,363 crores. 16,12,494 works have been completed so far.Referring to some of the unique features of MGNREGS in the state, the chief minister said that the use of IT for logistics such as electronic fund management have yielded results.  A project mode planning approach has been evolved. Comprehensive land development of lands of poor, including land inventory of SC and STs, formation of labour groups, preparation of work employment plan and all wage payments to be made through biometric authentications are some other features.The chief minister felt that one of the major reason for the tremendous success of the scheme in Andhra Pradesh is due to social audit being conducted through a well organized network of NGOs. A 24x7 call centre has been made operational so as to enable the people to register complaints, the press release said.