Non-availability of public land and low wages were hindering the effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in Kerala, Local Self Government Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty said on Monday.
The State had requested the Centre to allow certain concessions in the provisions of NREG scheme considering the State’s specific social and geographical environment, the minister told reporters here.
The Centre was yet to respond to the State’s plea, he said. The State had spent nearly Rs. 300 crore under the NREG scheme so far.
The minister said if the Centre allowed small farmers holding land up to two acres to utilise the scheme, it would benefit hundreds of farmers in Kerala. The Centre was not allowing this fearing that the big land owners in north India would misuse it, he said.
He criticised the Centre’s “move to involve NGOs in the implementation of NREG schemes”. In Kerala, the schemes were being implemented with the help of ‘Kudumbasree’, a government initiative.
