Officials should expedite the execution of government-sponsored people-oriented schemes in the interest of the welfare of the weaker sections, said the Union Minister for Home, P. Chidambaram.
Presiding over the Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting held here on Monday, Mr. Chidambaram appealed to the officials to achieve the target for every scheme without any time-overrun. Officials should ensure that the governmental assistance reached the targeted group of beneficiaries without any delay, he said.
Mr. Chidambaram, who reviewed the on-going schemes for the second quarter of the current financial year, said that of the Rs. 93.52 crore sanctioned for various rural developmental programmes, works worth about Rs. 59.82 crore had been executed so far, accounting for an achievement of about 64 per cent.
The largest number of persons benefited under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. As many as 33,254 out of the total 2.38 lakh persons possessing identity cards under the NREGS, had been assured of jobs.
Turning to the demand for power, Mr. Chidambaram said that special efforts had been taken to ease the crisis. An additional 500 MW of energy had been allotted to the district. Still, 2,100 MW was required to meet the actual demand.
Mr. Chidambaram distributed the Moovalur Ramamirtham Memorial marriage assistance of Rs.20,000 each, to 50 brides.
The District Collector A. Suganthi; the Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency, S.S. Kumar and the Member of Parliament from Ramanathapuram, J.K. Ritish were among those who participated in the meeting.
