More than 6.25 lakh families have been provided mandatory 100 days employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) generating more than 7.10 crore mandays of employment in the country till now during the current financial year. Sources told The Hindu here on Monday that Andhra Pradesh topped by providing mandatory employment to more than 1.92 lakh families followed by Tamil Nadu which had provided 100 days employment to 86,605 families and Maharashtra, one of the drought-hit States, providing 100 days employment to 77,443 families.
Karnataka, another drought-hit State, however, lagged behind with only 4,485 families of the 52.80 lakh job-card holding families being provided 100 days employment. Incidentally, the States are empowered to provide 150 days maximum employment to job-card holders in the districts or taluks that have been declared drought-hit. In Karnataka, drought-prone Kolar topped the list by providing employment to 436 families followed by Raichur which had provided 100 days employment to 428 families. Ramanagaram has provided 100 days employment to 389 families, Bidar 316 families and Kalaburagi 202 families.
The sources said that as against 3.67 families demanding employment in the country, the authorities in different States have provided employment to 3.04 lakh families. The sources said that due to the renewed brisk sowing operations in the district after some good rainfall in August and September, coupled with the festival season beginning, there has been slackness in the demand for employment under the MGNREGA in districts such as Kalaburagi, which has been declared drought-hit by the State government. After the puja holidays and Deepavali, the demand for employment under MGNREGA is likely to go up. In view of this, officials at the gram panchayat level have been directed to prepare a list of works and be ready to take them up when there was demand for jobs.
Karnataka lags behind AP, TN and Maharashtra
