Now, Tribal Plus to draw families to MGNREGS

Programme will ensure wages by the end of every week

The State government is gearing up to launch an innovative programme, Tribal Plus, to attract tribal families to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

When the MGNREGS was launched a few years back, it could attract every section of workers, including tribal workers in the district. But gradually a large number of tribal workers left it owing to the uncertainty in getting wages on time.

‘‘The Tribal Plus project envisages to attract more tribal families here to the scheme by providing more working days and ensuring wages by the end of every week,” S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Joint Development Commissioner, MGNREGS, told

The Hindu .

“While a worker in the general category gets 100 workdays under the MGNREGS, a tribal worker would get 200 workdays under the new project,’’ Mr. Nair, who is also the joint programme coordinator of the MGNREGS, Wayanad, said.

The project would be launched in the tribal populated areas of the State, including Attappady, Agali and Wayanad, during the inception of the financial year, he said.

50 workdays

Each tribal family would provide 50 workdays within May 31 in the first phase and their wages would be provided by the end of every week.

Wages would be provided with the support of the Kudumbasree Mission as per the working instructions proposed to be issued by the State government, Mr. Nair said.

Preference would be given to works such as construction of roads to tribal hamlets, agriculture-related works on tribal land, digging of wells and small ponds and construction works of cattle sheds.

An action plan would be made for the project after a team of officials consisting of the ward member of the grama panchayat, Scheduled Tribe promoters and technical staff of the MGNREGS visited each tribal hamlet in each panchayat.

Wayanad District Collector S. Suhas directed local administrative bodies to submit a working plan for the purpose before May 31.

Mr. Suhas, who is also the district programme coordinator, MGNREGS, would meet senior officials of various departments at the Collector’s chamber here at 2 p.m. on Friday to discuss the project further.