TURA: The announcement of elections to the state and the subsequent enrolling of block technicians and workers supervising the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme into election duty have cast serious doubts about the progress of the central scheme which is a time-bound programme.
The MGNREGA staff, particularly Additional Programme Officers and technical assistants, across several community and rural development blocks in the Garo Hills have been roped in for election duty which is gradually causing stagnation of work of the MGNREGA programme.
The APOs and technical assistants play a vital role in helping the village employment councils to execute the MGNREGA works. Although work under the programme is supposed to start from the first month (April) of the next financial year yet, most MGNREGA works take place during the lean season from January to March. The hundred days of work guaranteed under the Act need to be cleared before the end of the financial year that happens to be March 31st.
These concerns have been raised by the Community and Rural Development Department and its Commissioner and Secretary P Sampath Kumar has decided to take the matter up with the election commission.
“Many blocks in the state including Garo Hills are facing this obstacle. We had written to the District Election Officers across the state to exempt the APOs and technical staff because their services are crucial for the implementation of the MGNREGS programme. The momentum for the ongoing works must not be derailed because this year the government of India has given a huge labour budget target for our state in which 3 lakh persons will get the opportunity to avail 100 days work,” a worried commissioner and secretary said after undertaking a visit of several C&RD blocks in Khasi Hills and Garo Hills, this week.
According to the top bureaucrat, absence of APOs and technical teams from MGNREGA works cause disruption to the functioning of the VECs because sanction of works already approved under MGNREGA cannot be taken up. The state had received a record funding for MGNREGA in 2016-17 by the government of India.
There is more concern in store over the implementation of the project “Bottom 20” under MGNREGA scheme.
Under the project 50,000 beneficiaries were supposed to construct sheds for holding livestock that was to be purchased from the wages obtained from MGNREGA work.
So far, only 20,000 of these sheds have been completed.
“We are going to take this up with the election commission otherwise if left incomplete by 31st March the state will lose the entitlements,” said P Sampath Kumar.