With the objective to provide every rural
household a guarantee of at least 100 days of employment during a financial
year by providing unskilled manual work in rural areas to those members of the
rural household who volunteer to do such work, the Ministry of Rural
development & Panchayati Raj
has undertaken several measures to streamline the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
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NEW INITIATIVES UNDER MNREGA
1. Dedication of NREGA to the memory of
the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and re naming the Scheme as the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
2. Guidelines have been issued to states to set
up Ombudsman at district levels for effective
grievance redressal : Instructions on
Ombudsman have been issued. Ombudsman will be an agency independent of the central or state
government. The Ombudsman will receive complaints from NREGA workers and others
on any matters consider such complaints and facilitate their disposal in
accordance with law. The Ombudsman will be appointed by the State Government on
the recommendation of the selection committee. Ombudsmen will be well-known
persons from civil society who have experience in the field of public
administration, law, academics, social work or management.
3. NREGA
partnership with Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDA): NREGA partnership with UIDA has been
initiated. The database of NREGA will be utilized by the UID Authority to
expedite the development of the identification system for the residents.
4. National Helpline set up for receipt of complaints : The Ministry has set up a Toll free
National Helpline 1800110707 to enable the submission of complaints and
queries to the Ministry for the protection of workers entitlements and rights
under the Act. This is being CT enabled
and linked with the State and District Level Helplines
to create a National Network of NREGA Helpline. It will also be linked to
Office of the Ombudsman at district level for registration of complaints.
5. Social Audits: Social Audits enable the rural
communities to monitor and analyze the quality, durability and usefulness of
NREGA works as well as mobilize awareness and enforcement on their rights.
Social Audit is an important tool by which the people can improve and devise
strategies to enhance the quality of implementation of NREGA. The Ministry has
accorded utmost importance to the organization of Social Audits by the Gram Panchayats and issued instructions to the States to make
necessary arrangements for the purpose. The Act was amended to provide for
procedures on conducting social audits. Social audits have been undertaken in all the Gram Panchayats of the country.
6. NLM Visit: Thirty two National
level Monitor were deputed in different states for
special monitoring of the social audit campaign initiated by the Ministry.
7. Eminent Citizens Monitors for NREGA : Eminent Citizens will be identified to further Report
on the progress of NREGA. Their reports and findings will be placed on the
website and discussed at an annual workshop to enable the programme to improve
itself.
8. Convergence of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA:
The Ministry of Rural Development has developed and disseminated Guidelines
for convergence of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS with different Schemes and specific
programmes. 115 convergence pilot districts in 23 state, independent
organisations have been instituted by the Ministry. The National Institute of
Rural Development (NIRD) is monitoring the convergence projects.
9.Construction of Bharat Nirman Rajiv
Gandhi Sewa Kendra / Gram Panchayat
Bhawans would
be constructed under the scheme to create durable assets in the Villages
10.Business correspondent
Model is being adopted in Rajasthan
with the help of Central Bank of India to ensure
timely payment of wages to the
workers under the MNREGA
Presently the MNREGA is being
implemented in all 619 districts of the country. The Ministry proposes to
spent Rs. 39,100 crore
during the current year and out of this an amount of Rs.
18950 crore has been utilized upto
December, 2009. 160 crore persondays
employment has been generated. MNREGA has resulted into major financial
inclusion wherein bank/post office account have been opened for the families
getting employment. Ministry has advised all the States to ensure payment of
wages fully through the accounts. About 880 lakh
accounts have been opened. A sizeable proportion of all the benefits have gone
to the weaker sections of the society like SCs (30%),
STs (21%) and women (50%).
The new initiatives under MNREGA will
ensure transparency and accountability in the process so that benefit of the
Government’s flagship program reaches out to the millions of rural poor across
the country and in the process making it an effective instrument of poverty
alleviation.
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AKT/ST/SAK