Date:03/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/03/stories/2009010360050600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Fresh impetus to NREGS: Collector

Special Correspondent

Promised: Workers engaged in desilting the South Ayyan Vaical at Sathamangalam in Lalgudi Union on Friday.

TIRUCHI: The district administration has given a fresh impetus to the execution of works taken up under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme after a brief lull following last month’s heavy rains.

The works sanctioned under the NREGS could not be executed on continuous basis over the past couple of months owing to agricultural season and the damages caused by the monsoon rains. Now all panchayats have been instructed the implement the scheme and achieve the goal of providing 100 days of work in a year to all persons who have registered under the scheme, Collector T. Soundiah said after inspecting the progress of desilting of the South Ayyan Vaical and its branch channels at Sathamangalam in Lalgudi union on Friday.

All panchayats should disburse at least Rs.50,000 as wages every week under the scheme. Panchayats held a minimum of Rs.1 lakh each and paucity of funds cannot be a reason for any slackness in implementation of the works. All Panchayat Unions have been provided Rs.20 lakh each so as to release them to the panchayats as and when required. The District Rural Development Agency had about Rs.8 crore for implementing the project.

If any panchayat cited paucity of funds as the reason, villagers should immediately intimate the Collector, the Project Officer of the District Rural Development Agency or the Block Development Officers. In every panchayat, two to five works have been sanctioned under the NREGS.

All ‘Makkal Nala Paniyalargal’ have been instructed to be present at the site of work at 8 a.m. every day along with the attendance registers. Whenever, a minimum of 10 persons turned up, the works would be executed.

Beneficiaries could verify the volume of work to be executed, kept on display at the work sites, for getting the full wage of Rs.80 a day, Mr. Soundiah said and appealed to the people to come forward to avail the scheme in a big way.