By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Meghalaya witnessed a considerable improvement in implementation of the pioneering Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), according to the annual report 2010-11 tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Implementation of the scheme has been particularly successful in West Garo Hills, East Garo Hills, West Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi districts with more than 95 per cent of their labour budget being fully-utilized under the scheme.
A notable success was recorded in East Garo Hills district, where despite the Garo-Rabha ethnic clashes last year, 100 days of employment was provided to all households registered in trouble-torn Samanda community and rural development block.
“This is inspite of the fact that the district witnessed unprecedented ethnic clashes
among the residents of Assam and Meghalaya which has affected the implementation of government programmes for months together,” the report said.
The report mentions that the State had provided an average of 57.73 man days to as many as 3,46,129 households which had demanded works during 2010-11, which is higher than the national average of 42.04 man days per household.
“The year 2010-11 was a promising one in furthering the mission of making the MGNREGS a success,” the report added.
In terms of expenditure, the report stated that an expenditure of Rs 319.85 crore was incurred which is an increase of 74 per cent over 2009-10.
“The total funds sanctioned during 2010-11 was Rs 332.93 crore and the total fund utilization is recorded at 96.1 per cent,” the report added.
The report also said that the state government has also initiated steps to create a society at the state level which will manage the State Employment Guarantee Fund (SEGF), a corpus fund dedicated as a resource pool which can be utilized during fund shortages in the districts.
The State Government has also initiated steps to provide VSATs to all the blocks for ensuring internet connectivity and instant communication, the report noted.