JAIPUR: Congress leaders from Udaipur division who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to the City on Friday to attend the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Vidya Bhawan Society, complained to him of laxity in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Rajasthan. The people of the six selected districts were not fully benefiting from the scheme as the State Government lacked sincerity, they said.

The Congressmen, led by PCC president B.D.Kalla, met Dr. Singh at the Udaipur Circuit House and submitted a memorandum detailing various problems faced by the South Rajasthan districts. The Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Girija Vyas, was also present.

The Lake City had experienced torrential rain in the morning when Dr. Singh arrived to speak on the topic, "the role of voluntarism to strengthen democratic civil society" at the Vidya Bhawan but by the time he reached the Circuit House, the sky was clear with the sun shining.

As many as four of the six districts, chosen in Rajasthan for NREGS, are in the predominantly tribal Udaipur division. The party leaders -- Gulab Singh Shaktawat, Dayaram Parmar, Bhiru Lal Meena, Raghuveer Meena, Udailal Anjana, Mahendra Malvea, Tara Chand Bhagora, Narain Singh Bhati, Trilok Purbia, Prakash Bairwa, Madhav Sharma -- while thanking Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister for the scheme said the provisions laid out by the Centre for the programme were not fully kept by the State. This included payment of a minimum wage of Rs.60 per day, they said. They suggested an agency to monitor the implementation of NREGS.

The partymen, in six groups -- one each from Banswara-Dungarpur, Chittorgarh-Rajsamand and two groups each from Udaipur rural and Udaipur City -- who met Dr. Singh asked for a special package for the State's tribal areas. Raghuveer Meena, MLA from Sarada, said the partymen talked to Dr. Singh on the need to invest in educational institutions, health and in the promotion of agriculture in the area. "We suggested to him an institution similar to AIIMS in South Rajasthan and opening of quality schools," Mr. Meena informed.

Dr. Singh was asked to expand the area under the Tribal Sub Plan in Rajasthan by including areas such as Pindwara (Sirohi district), Gogunda, Mavli, Vallabnagar (Udaipur district), Nathdwara and Kumbalgarh (Rajsamand district) as they had a sizeable tribal population.

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