Improve labourers’ skill, MNREGA should be more effective: CM

Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that MNREGA project should be more effective for labourers. They will earn more if their skills are improved through MNREGA. It will be a big contribution for the welfare of common man. Speaking on the occasion, member of planning commission of India Dr. Mihir Shah lauded MNREGA implementation in state saying that Madhya Pradesh has set norms for the schemes implementation, which are talked about in entire country.
“MNREGA is a boon for poor. Any difficulty arising in its implementation should be removed. Non payment of wages within time limit is the biggest challenge of the scheme. For this, ultra banking units and mobile banks have been arranged in Madhya Pradesh. Shortage of technical staff and disruption of fund release are also problems,” he said. Budget should be present in the rainy season so that funds are released in the September and development works should be carried out from September to June. Due to presentation of budget in March, two-three months of work pass by for maintenance of accounts only.
The Chief Minister said that profit of agriculture will increase by converging it with MNREGA. Aim of MNREGA should be that labourers do not remain dependent on wages but become self-reliant. Biggest success of MNREGA will be when the country will not require it. Shri Chouhan said that it will have to be understood that development of few people does not mean progress rather development is meaningless until its benefits percolate to the common people. He said that pace of development should not be slow. Its benefits should reach common people. MNREGA gives right to work to people. Everyone has right over resources, which should be used only in accordance with requirement. MNREGA has been positively used in Madhya Pradesh. Living standard of poor tribals has been improved through construction of Kapildhara wells in tribal districts like Jhabua, Alirajpur. About 2.50 lakh such wells have been constructed in the state. Over 7.50 water structures have been constructed under Jalabhishek Abhiyan in Madhya Pradesh, due to which water level has increased and environment has improved.
Shri Chouhan said that Gram Sabhas need to be made more effective. Its role should be positive and decisive in development. Campaigns like Apna Madhya Pradesh have been launched to associate society with the State Government. Schemes have been chalked out through panchayats by understanding their requirements. A scheme has also been chalked out to train rural craftspersons under which they are provided employment with capital.
Dr. Mihir Shah said that the norms for MNREGA implementation set by Madhya Pradesh are talked about in entire country. This workshop has been organised to boost MNREGA implementation further. A commission headed by him has also been constituted by the Union Government to put forth suggestions to further improve MNREGA implementation. He said that the committee had suggested flaxi fund in all the schemes and included 30 new works in MNREGA on states’ demand. Direct benefits have accured by converging agriculture with MNREGA. Other works converged with MNREGA include rural livelihoods like cow breeding, fisheries and nature-based works. Suggestions regarding change in them as per requirement can be submitted to Union Rural Development Ministry. Good work has been done under MNREGA in Madhya Pradesh. Agriculture labourers of the areas where stress has been laid on water and productively have started farming again. It is a great achievement. We wish that rural economy is improved and demand for work declines gradually. Labourers should be given opportunity to register demand for work easily. Gram Panchayats are strengthened and have technical staff. For this, technical experts’ teams will be provided by forming clusters of 10-15 Gram Panchayats. A system will have to be implemented to ensure timely payment of wages to MNREGA labourers. Entire year’s action plan should be presented at Gram Sabhas to be held on August 15 so that advance information about availability of employment can be given to labourers. New arrangements are being made regarding budget so that immediate online budget can be allocated after exhaustion of earlier allocated funds.
Additional Chief Secretary Smt. Aruna Sharma said that good work has been carried out to increase irrigation capacity through MNREGA in Madhya Pradesh. Better system has been evolved for financial inclusion in the state. So far, 1275 ultra banking units have been started and 3 thousand more are being opened. Best work of MNREGA convergence has been done in Madhya Pradesh. Under it, works have been carried out under Mukhyamantri Sadak Yojana, Kapildhara, Panch Parmeshwar and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan. In the state, 65 percent sanctioned works of MNREGA have been completed, which is better than national average of 56 percent. She said that separate action plans should be chalked out for landless farmers and small farmers under MNREGA. She gave a presentation on challenges, expecations, implementation and shortcomings of MNREGA.
At the workshop Shri Prathmesh Ambasta gave a presentation on the subject. Another presentation on MNREGA achievements and challenges was given by Shri Apoorv Jha. The workshop was held jointly by National Consortium of Civil Society Organisation on MNREGA, Madhya Pradesh Employment Guarantee Council, National Coordination of Public Organisations on Employment Gurantee and Aga Khan Gram Samarthan.