Karnataka   

NREGS likely to be expanded, says Minister

DAVANGERE: Union Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan has said that the Government has issued orders directing the administration not to acquire agriculturally viable land for Special Economic Zones (SEZ). He clarified that only dry and parched land could be acquired.

Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr. Rajasekharan said the Union Government would not allow any State Government or private party to take away agricultural land for any programme, including SEZs. The Government was committed to increasing food production in the country, keeping in mind the growing population and its commitment to achievement of self-sufficiency. Mr. Rajasekharan said there had been a boom in revenue collection and added that there had been an increase in tax collection by 45 per cent compared to the previous years.

Hence, there was no shortage of funds with the Union Government, he said and added that it would not hesitate to spend money on the welfare of the people.

He said the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which had earlier been implemented in a few districts, was now being implemented in over 330 districts across the country, with an outlay of Rs. 11,500 crore.

Of the Rs. 11,500 crore, Rs. 8,360 crore had already been released, he said, adding that the Government was seriously contemplating extending the scheme to all the districts in the country.

He hinted that beneficiaries under the NREGS would be given jobs for at least 200 days in a year, in place of the present system which provided jobs for only 100 days in a year.

The Government also planned to introduce “mobile banks” for effective implementation of the scheme, for which zilla panchayats had been instructed to make use of post offices to make payments to the beneficiaries.

Implementation of the NREGS had not only resulted in establishing substantial infrastructure in rural areas, but had also provided jobs to a large number of poor people, thereby preventing large-scale migration.

An amount of Rs. 5,000 crore had been earmarked to improve small and medium towns in the country under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the Minister said.

Over seven crore youth would be given employment in the 11th Five Year Plan, he added.

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