Jaitley, contesting the perception that the BJP government is neglecting the jobs scheme under the MGNREGA or Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which was created by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, said that during UPA rule final spending used to be lower than what was budgeted under the scheme. 55 crore of which 71 per cent has been spent on wage payments to workers.
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Speaking on the occasion, Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said MGNREGA has reached 8 crore rural population and addded that the target this year is to reach 11 crore people.
During the Budget session previous year, Modi had said: “Do you think I will put an end to the scheme?” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be the Chief Guest in the event.
There was perhaps not a time in last many years that there was no curtailment in the fund for schemes announced in the Budget, he said taking potshots at UPA (United Progressive Alliance).
“Despite the enormous potential of MGNREGA as a social security programme, Prime Minister Modi does not like it. He has called MGNREGA as an epitome of Congress failure-a living proof of 60 years of Congress misrule”.
“Of the workers, the percentage of Scheduled Caste workers has consistently been about 20 per cent and Scheduled Tribe workers has been about 17 per cent”, it said adding that a total of over 1,980 crore persondays have been generated so far out of which the percentage worked by women has steadily increased much above the statutory minimum of 33 per cent.
Allaying the apprehensions in some quarters that MGNREGA will be scrapped or will be replaced with some other scheme, Jaitley said, in coming years more funds will be provided to rural jobs scheme as this is basically a demand driven programme.
“Rahul will interact with wage workers, some NGOs and Sarpanchs”.
In the government’s continued push to showcase its farmer friendly face, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four “kisan” or farmers specific public meetings across India by February 28.
“Will visit Bandlapalli, Anantapur on 2nd Feb to commemorate 10 yrs of MNREGA”.
Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibe during the last Budget that MGNREGA was a “living monument” of the Congress-led UPA government’s failures, the government had hiked the scheme’s allocation from Rs34,000 crore to Rs34,699 crore, while promising to enhance the allocation by another Rs5,000 crore if there was tax buoyancy.
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The then UPA government had described it as “a landmark (programme) in our history in removing poverty from the face of the nation”. Currently, 94 percent of the wage payments are directly deposited in the account of beneficiaries Shri Singh said his Ministry has also reacted swiftly to the distress situation of droughts in nine states by declaring an additional 50 days of employment in the drought affected areas, he added.
