Rural employment programme falters as depts lag

SHIMLA: Used to getting jobs done through contracts, government department assigned budgets under rural employment guarantee schemes have failed to use earmarked funds, while job card holders in the countryside are making the best of what is available.

Government documents showed that of the Rs 880 crore funds available under MNREGA for Himachal in 2010-11, ten line government departments under the flagship programme had spent only Rs 15.57 crore till September.

Besides a spillover of Rs 16.9 crore funds from last year, these departments which include forests, IPH, PWD, agriculture, horticulture, police, sericulture, fisheries, animal husbandry and youth services have been allocated Rs 420 crore for the current fiscal year.

A senior official, who did not want to be identified, pointed out at this pace this amount would never be utilized as spending a mere Rs 15.57 crore of the available Rs 437 crore for the year was only 3.56% of the total.

Without commenting on the schemes of government departments that to be completed by using MNREGA funds, S K B S Negi, principal secretary, rural development said that there were 10.70 lakh households with job card holders in the state and upto October 12 as many as 3.05 lakh households had been provided employment by the rural development department by taking up works in panchayats.

Of the total available MNREGA funds of Rs 443.64 crore available with districts for rural development as much as 182.53 crore (41%) had been spent, he said.

However, documents showed that the expenditure projected for the period in the rural developmnet department was Rs 231.42 crore. Data showed that though the total approved projects were 65,068, only 8,521 (13%) stood completed, work was in progress in 45,176 (69.4%), while work on 11,371 (7.3%) projects had not started. Negi said that much of the expenditure under the flagship programme was being made for rural connectivity, water conservation, afforestation and flood control project.

With rural development department being the nodal agency to execute the programme, Negi refused to comment on laggards among other government departments mandated with engaging MNREGA job card holders for undertaking development works.

Between 2006-2010, a total of Rs 1053.88 crore has been spent in Himachal under the Central programme, of which Rs 609.64 crore was on wages.