NREGA will cover all 600 districts: Birender Singh

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday rejected claims that it was trying to restrict the previous government's flagship rural employment scheme to the country's poorest districts, saying the Rs 40,000 crore allocated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) are meant for all of the country's 600 districts.

"The nearly Rs 40,000 crore allocation under the scheme is for the entire country," said Chaudhary Birender Singh, who took over on Tuesday as the Union minister for rural development, panchayati raj and drinking water & sanitation.

The comment is in stark contrast to his predecessor and party colleague Nitin Gadkari's recent statement that the government is looking to limit NREGA to about 200 tribal and backward districts of the country "NREGA is not required in areas where per capita income is high, higher growth rate and higher agricultural growth rate... it is required only in tribal sector and poor (areas)," Gadkari had said while outlining the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government in its first 100 days in office.

On the controversial Land Acquisition Act, which many say is creating obstacles in the path of industrialisation, Singh said the government is in favour of development but it should not harm the interests of farmers.

"Industrial development is important for growth as it helps generate employment but we will decide on which land and how industrialisation can take place, keeping in mind the interest of our farmers," he said.

Commenting on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aims to create a cleaner India by 2019, Singh said the target is achievable but the real challenge is to sustain the movement in the long run. "We can certainly achieve the target of a clean India by 2019 but the challenge is to stabilise it in the long-term," he said.

Role for Ministers of State

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Union Cabinet ministers to hold weekly meetings with their junior ministers or ministers of state (MoS) to review the progress of programmes concerning their ministries.

Several MoS in the previous UPA regime had complained of lack of work and responsibility, saying Cabinet ministers were not involving them in important decisions."PM Narendra Modi has suggested that every Wednesday, I should meet all MoS to discuss important issues and we will diligently follow this," Singh said, adding that the three ministers of state reporting to him will enjoy powers equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.

The three MoS assigned to Singh include Ram Kripal Yadav for drinking water and sanitation, Nihalchand as for panchayati raj and Sudarshan Bhagat for rural development. The Union council of ministers has 33 MoS assigned to 26 Cabinet ministers, while six MoS have independent charge.