K. Jayaprakash Hegde, Udupi-Chikmagalur MP, said on Saturday that officials should make immediate payments to the beneficiaries for works done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in Udupi district. He was chairing the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, here.
Mr. Hegde said that there were some complaints of Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) delaying payments to the beneficiaries under MNREGS. Delayed payments would act as a disincentive and should be avoided, he said.
Construction of toilets
S.A. Prabhakar Sharma, CEO of Zilla Panchayat, said that 1,248 toilets were being constructed for poor people who did not have toilets in the district. The beneficiaries were getting Rs. 9,200, which included Rs. 4,500 under MNREGS and Rs. 4,700 under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.
As many as 19 lakes would be developed under the MNREGS. The construction of two playgrounds in each gram panchayat had been taken up. All these measures were aimed at increasing employment opportunities to people in rural areas under the scheme.
There were now 37,000 job card holders under the MNREGS in the district, he said.
Community-based projects
Mr. Hegde said that it was essential to give more importance to community-based works done under MNREGS, he said. Mr. Sharma said that as many as 912 groups had been formed to encourage people to take up community-based works under the MNREGS.
He said that of the 722 houses sanctioned under the Indira Awaas Yojana, 278 had been completed, 444 were under construction in the district. Of the 904 houses selected for upgradation, the works had been completed for 846 houses under the Yojana.
