Giving a major boost to land development activities and material component works involving Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Tamil Nadu government has enhanced the ceiling of the MGNREGS works on individual land from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh.
Acting on the recommendations of several District Collectors, including Ramanathapuram Collector K. Nanthakumar, the government issued a Government Order on September 3 (GO No. 119) fixing the maximum ceiling limit per job holder at Rs. 5 lakh, official sources here said.
The labour-material ratio should be maintained at 60: 40 and the selection of private land for taking up developmental works should be made in a transparent manner, the GO said.
The MGNREGS guidelines with regard to labour-material ratio, initially insisted that only 100 per cent labour-oriented works should be taken up and material components should be dovetailed with other schemes of Rural Development and other departments.
The State amended the guidelines and issued a GO in July 2012 stating that along with labour-oriented works, material component works could also be taken up on the lands of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe farmers, small and marginal farmers and other beneficiaries.
Now, the State government issued a fresh GO amending a guideline in respect of the ceiling limit. The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) could now take up construction of more material component works, said A. Palani, Project Director, DRDA.
“Now we can take up construction of foodgrain godowns, anganwadis, block panchayat service centres, village panchayat service centres, cattle shelters, and goat and poultry shelters for beneficiaries belonging to the vulnerable category, he told The Hindu .
The DRDA could focus on material component works as the labour-material ratio of 60: 40 should be maintained for the district as a whole and not for individual works. It also ensured wages (for assured 100 days in a year) to the individual job car holders without any pilferage, he added.
