Karnataka - Bellary   

Lack of awareness cause for poor enrolment, says official

BELLARY: Around 1,000 people from Hadagali taluk in the district are getting employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Anthony Mendonca, chief executive officer of the Bellary Zilla Panchayat has said.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Friday, he said that with harvesting coming to an end, many more people from the district might start looking for work. A large number of projects were in the offing for which funds had been released to all gram panchayats. People needing employment could approach the gram panchayats, he said.

According to him, there are 2.5 lakh households in the rural areas of the district, and 1.69 lakh people had enrolled for the scheme. Job cards had been given to 1.59 lakh individuals. However, the response from people in Sirguppa taluk and parts of Hospet and Bellary taluks was poor. The highest enrolment was recorded in Bommagatta Gram Panchayat in Sandur taluk and the lowest in Talur Gram Panchayat in Bellary taluk.

Attributing lack of awareness as the chief cause for low enrolment, Mr. Mendonca said reorientation workshops were being organised for all members and staff of the gram panchayats so that they could, in turn, inform the people about the scheme. “During the workshops, questions on intended beneficiaries and methods of working were clarified,” he said.

No income limit had been stipulated for people to avail themselves of benefits of the scheme. Farmers belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories, who had obtained land by filing Form 7, could take up work in their own fields under the scheme.

Mr. Mendonca said he had written a letter to the Government requesting extension of benefits to small and marginal farmers too. “If implemented, it would be of great help to them,” he said.

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