Employment Guarantee Scheme criticised

New Delhi, Feb 22 (UNI) The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme launched by the UPA government came in for criticism in the Lok Sabha today with an Opposition member expressing his apprehension that the scheme may not be a success.

Participating in a resumed discussion on the Motion of Thanks to President's address, Mr Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) said while the programme had already been launched at the panchayat level on February 2, it was still not clear how much funds the local bodies were going to get to implement the scheme.

The scheme would provide for only 100 days guaranteed employment, so what would the beneficiary do for a living for the remaining 260 days of a year, he asked, and said there was no mention of this fact in the scheme.

Rejecting the charge that the Opposition was claiming credit for the scheme, Mr Singh said the Centre should thank Bihar government for including all the districts of the state in the scheme to be funded from the state exchequer, as only 200 districts in the country were to get its benefit.

Ms Bhawani Rajeshwaran (DMK) alleged corruption in funds sanctioned for tsunami relief in Tamil Nadu and called for evolving a system of monitoring the administration of the funds.

She said the flagship schemes of the UPA government would take the nation on the road to great prosperity.

MORE UNI YS LR BD1623