PMK founder S. Ramadoss has demanded that the Central government provide more funds for the employment scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In particular, he has sought an additional ₹1,000 crore for Tamil Nadu.
In a statement, Dr. Ramadoss referred to The Hindu report ‘Fund crunch hits MGNREGA scheme’, which pointed out that more than 96% of the allocated money had already been spent or was needed to clear dues, and less than ₹2,500 crore was available to sustain the scheme for February and March. Referring to Tamil Nadu’s position, Dr. Ramadoss said the State had a deficit to the tune of ₹300 crore.
“Apart from Tamil Nadu, that the situation was prevalent across India was anticipated earlier. This is due to the fact that the allocation made for the scheme for the current year was only ₹60,000 crore, compared to ₹61,084 crore in 2018-19. This [year’s] allocation should have been at least 10% more than last year’s allocation,” he said. Dr. Ramadoss said the Centre had allocated ₹4,686.87 crore to Tamil Nadu this year, while the State had provided ₹4,977.45 crore. The funds had already been spent this year, he said. He further said there were a total of 6.91 lakh projects planned under the MGNREGS in the State, of which 3.16 lakh had been completed. “As regards the remaining 3.74 lakh projects, more than half of the planned projects are under implementation. If all the projects are not completed this financial year itself, it will affect rural development and the economy badly and will prevent the growth of the State,” the PMK leader said.
