Pan-India coverage for rural job guarantee scheme
Rahul Gandhi, the newly appointed general secretary of the Congress party, meets Manmohan Singh with a delegation and seeks the scheme's extension to the entire country.
By Agencies |
NEW DELHI: Call it the Rahul Gandhi effect, the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme will cover the entire country and not just the 330 districts where it is currently operational, it was announced on Friday.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended, among others, by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, an aide in the Prime Minister's Office said.
"The government has approved the extension of the scheme to cover the entire country," the aide added.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the newly appointed general secretary of the Congress party, had met Manmohan Singh with a delegation and sought the scheme's extension to the entire country - that is all 600-odd districts.
The delegation said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was a landmark legislation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and an important promise in the Congress manifesto.
The scheme is currently being implemented with central funds in 330 districts to guarantee 100 days of employment per annum on minimum wages to anyone registered under it and seeking work.
The act itself provides for extending the scheme to all the 600 districts of the country within five years. The process has now been expedited, officials said.
The rural development minister told the prime minister that he agreed with the observation of the Congress delegation, adding he saw the scheme as an effective means to prevent large-scale migration of rural workforce to cities.
It will also provide greater civic amenities in rural areas, the minister added.
Besides Gandhi, the Congress delegation included Ashok Gehlot, Janardan Dwivedi, Kishore C. Deo, Mukul Wasnik, Margaret Alva, Prithviraj Chavan and V. Narayanaswamy (all general secretaries), M. Veerappa Moily, Satyavrat Chaturvedi and V. Arun Kumar (senior Congress leaders).
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended, among others, by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, an aide in the Prime Minister's Office said.
"The government has approved the extension of the scheme to cover the entire country," the aide added.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the newly appointed general secretary of the Congress party, had met Manmohan Singh with a delegation and sought the scheme's extension to the entire country - that is all 600-odd districts.
The delegation said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was a landmark legislation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and an important promise in the Congress manifesto.
The scheme is currently being implemented with central funds in 330 districts to guarantee 100 days of employment per annum on minimum wages to anyone registered under it and seeking work.
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The act itself provides for extending the scheme to all the 600 districts of the country within five years. The process has now been expedited, officials said.
The rural development minister told the prime minister that he agreed with the observation of the Congress delegation, adding he saw the scheme as an effective means to prevent large-scale migration of rural workforce to cities.
It will also provide greater civic amenities in rural areas, the minister added.
Besides Gandhi, the Congress delegation included Ashok Gehlot, Janardan Dwivedi, Kishore C. Deo, Mukul Wasnik, Margaret Alva, Prithviraj Chavan and V. Narayanaswamy (all general secretaries), M. Veerappa Moily, Satyavrat Chaturvedi and V. Arun Kumar (senior Congress leaders).
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