The Ministry of Rural Development on Monday agreed to provide an additional 50 days of employment beyond the stipulated 100 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for Scheduled Tribes (ST) households living in forest areas and who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
Approximately, 14 lakh individual and community titles have been distributed under FRA 2006. Of these around 8 lakh individual titles have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. It is these individuals who will be able to claim the benefit of 150 days.
“This is an important initiative since a lot of land-levelling, plantation and other activities are required to be undertaken on these lands to make them more productive. The additional days through MGNREGA will allow the households to undertake additional work on their own land,” said Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development.
Further, FRA beneficiaries have already been automatically included for assistance under the Indira Awaas Yojana. Additionally, other initiatives for ensuring effective implementation of MGNREGA in Naxal-affected areas have also been taken. The Ministry has started a convergence project for MGNREGA and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in 250 most backward blocks of the country. Several of these ST-dominated blocks are located in Naxal districts. The objective of the project is to synergise the functioning of MGNREGA and NRLM so as to substantially enhance the quality of assets being created in the MGNREGA.
