ANANTAPUR: Enrolment of wage-seekers in the district under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) will commence on February 2. Details of the scheme were explained to the ZPTC members and Mandal Parishad Presidents at the general body meeting of the Zilla Parishad here on Wednesday.

District Collector Y.V. Anuradha, however, said that the administrative machinery for taking up the gigantic programmes was insufficient in the district. The State Government had already been requested to permit the administration to allocate dedicated staff for the purpose at mandal level, she said.

Publicity campaign

It was expected that some one lakh wage-seeking families would enrol for the programme to begin with. The programme should not be treated as the regular source of income as it was conceived to help the wage-seekers only during the lean period and would extend only supplementary income, the Collector explained. As the programme was new, modalities of implementation would keep changing, she said.

Project Director of District Water Management Authority E.N. Srinivasulu, explained that a massive publicity campaign would be launched to popularise the scheme and public opinion would also be mobilised by conducting gram sabhas.

Works shortlisted

Development land belonging to SC, ST and BCs', soil and moisture conservation works, bio-diesel plantation, desiltation of traditional water bodies and supply channels their repairs, rural road links would be taken up on a priority basis, he explained.

Rural Standard Schedule of Rates (Rural SSR) would also be worked out for deciding the wages. The issue was already studied at K.N.Palyam village in Kadiri mandal.

Members were also told to give suggestions on the new scheme so that they could be studied and incorporated. Short supply of groundnut seed during rabi season, Indiramma villages, bio-diesel plantation, national horticulture mission, micro irrigation and other subjects were also discussed at the meeting.

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