With most of Karnataka reeling under severe drought, the government has increased the number of days of work from 100 to 150 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in 135 drought-hit taluks.
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil on Wednesday reviewed the progress of various departmental schemes and said the number of days of work a year has been increased to each rural household to prevent migration of people.
The beneficiary would get daily wages of Rs. 204 a day under the job scheme. The State is expected to get Rs. 2,587.35 crore during 2015-16 for taking up various works under the scheme.
Each gram panchayat has been asked to provide jobs from a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 100 people per day. Gram panchayats across the State would take up nearly 10,000 works related to roads, bridges, lakes and playgrounds in the next few months. Rs. 369 crore had been released to gram panchayats under the 14th Finance Commission, he told presspersons.
Mr. Patil discussed the preparation of action plans with Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officers, who attended the meeting, and said ZP CEOs and engineers have been told to follow 77 guidelines while preparing action plans.
To tackle drinking water in villages, the ZP and GPs have been told to supply water in tankers and energise borewells. Rs. 49 crore had been released to provide power connections to borewell pumpsets. Rs. 75 crore had been released to Task Forces headed by legislators to mitigate drought.
Swachh Bharat
Under the ‘Open Defecation Free’ campaign, which is a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 10 lakh toilets would be constructed. In the last five months, 2.65 lakh toilets were constructed, he said.
