Agartala: Tripura has once again topped all the states in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which guarantees minimum job days to people in rural areas, a minister said here Saturday.
State Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chaudhury, quoting a performance report of the union rural development ministry, told reporters: “Tripura stands at the top in terms of person-days generation of 45 so far in the current fiscal (2011-2012), followed by Andhra Pradesh (39.19 person-days) and Sikkim (38.39).”
Others in the top 10 list are Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Lakshwadeep, Chhattis-garh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
Tripura has also topped in getting per head fund allocation from the central government and providing wages to MGNREGA workers through banks, the report added.
The minister claimed that in 2010-11 and previous years too, Tripura secured the top position in the country by providing on an average of 67 man-days to people under rural job scheme. Criticising the central government for delayed allocation of funds under the MGNREGA, the minister said that due to this delay, the target of 100 man-days in a year was not possible in the country.
The Tripura government is also providing wages to MGNREGA workers at their door steps through business correspondents engaged by various nationalised and regional rural banks. (IANS)