The Hindu : Karnataka News : NREGS implementation in Shimoga district leaves much to be desired

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Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

NREGS implementation in Shimoga district leaves much to be desired

Pramod Mellegatti

Only Rs. 2.18 crore of the Rs. 26 crore sanctioned amount has been utilised

Shimoga district is in the second year of implementation
It leads two other Malnad districts in achievement

SLOW PROGRESS: Beneficiaries of NREGS removing silt from a tank in Heggodu village of Tirthahalli taluk in Shimoga district.

SHIMOGA: The implementation of the Union Government’s ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) by gram panchayats in Shimoga district has left much to be desired.

The fact that the implementing agencies (gram panchayats) have utilised only Rs. 2.18 crore of the sanctioned Rs. 26 crore speaks of the tardiness in the implementation of the scheme.

Shimoga district, which was covered under the scheme in the second phase with Belgaum, Bellary, Kodagu and Hassan, is in the second year of implementation. However, it has led the other two Malnad districts of Kodagu and Hassan as far as progress is concerned.

While 42 works are completed under the scheme, 591 works are under different stages of implementation. The district has spent Rs. 1.54 crore (of the Rs. 2.18 crore utilised) on wages for unskilled workers while the balance has been spent on material.

As many as 1.47 lakh families have registered under the scheme and have been given job cards. As many as 34,740 of them are from the Scheduled Castes,7,801 from Scheduled Tribes and 1,06,115 from other communities. The scheme has created 1.73 lakh man-days so far.

Eight works such as flood control, rural connectivity, water conservation and water harvesting, renovation of traditional water bodies and land development, which are mostly water conservation-oriented, are being implemented as part of the scheme.

The scheme guarantees employment to rural people for 100 days in a financial year. Any number of members of a family could register themselves for jobs under the scheme. They are paid Rs. 82 each a day as wages.

As the payment of wages is made only through banks, beneficiaries have opened savings accounts. Workers have to form themselves into groups of at least 10 members each to become eligible for jobs.

Noting that the progress under the scheme was far from satisfactory, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat, V. Anbukumar, has written to the presidents and the secretaries of the 260 gram panchayats in the district asking them to take up works worth at least of Rs. 10 lakh each to utilise fully the funds earmarked for the district by the Union Government.

Talking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, he said that most of the gram panchayats concentrated only on small works with cost ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 50,000 which was not helpful in providing employment to more number of workers.

He said that the impact of the scheme could be appreciated only if its fruits reached the beneficiaries. He said that the scheme was expected to pick up after December when seasonal jobs elsewhere would not be available in a sustainable way.

He, however, noted there were no complaints from any quarters as far as the implementation of the scheme was concerned.

The availability of jobs with higher wages is said to be the main cause for the tardiness in the implementation of the scheme.

Another factor that seems to have affected the scheme is the lack of publicity to make rural beneficiaries appreciate the usefulness of the scheme and get involved in it as it is free from the harassment of middlemen. The beneficiaries get paid once a week through banks without any interference.

Trendsetter

Meanwhile, Heggodu Gram Panchayat in Tirthahalli taluk seems to have become a trendsetter for others as far as the implementation of the scheme is concerned. It has been able to restore the main tank in the village spread over one acre. The tank had almost disappeared after being covered with heavy silt.

What has come as an inspiration for the villagers to participate in the restoration of the tank is the active participation of the gram panchayat president Ravindra in the work.

The Gram Panchayat has taken up restoration of the tank at a cost of Rs. 1 lakh of which Rs. 45,264 has been spent. The other two major works taken up by it are the levelling of the open ground at a cost of Rs. 2 lakh and the repairs of the Harabylu and Salebylu roads at a cost of Rs. 15,000.

Sorab taluk leads the six taluks in the district in the implementation of the scheme followed by Tirthahalli, Hosnagar and Sagar taluks.

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