Meghalaya launches employment scheme

Shillong, Aug 16 (UNI) As part of the Independence Day celebration, the government has formally launched the Meghalaya Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MREGS) with the distribution of 300 job cards.

The MREGS which is under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, was formally kicked off at Asanang in West Garo Hills yesterday by Home Minister Robert Garnett Lyngdoh and Community and Rural Development Minister Irene Lyngdoh.

The beneficiaries for the job cards are mainly from Asanang, Rengsanggre, Diggreanggre the Rongram Development Block.

The entire beneficiaries would get their job cards by September 15, official sources.

Speaking at the function, Home Minister R G Lyngdoh said the scheme would give the people a chance to ''break the chain of poverty''.

The state government will pay unemployment allowance in cash if employment cannot be given within 15 days of application for work.

As per the NERG Act 2006, one third of the beneficiaries will be women, he informed.

In her speech, C&RD Minister Irene Lyngdoh said that the scheme would help uplift socio-economic condition of the people. She stressed that the C&RD department would give its highest priority for the proper implementation of the scheme.

The UPA government has chosen two districts in Meghalaya- West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills to implement the NERG Scheme, which envisages legal guarantee of 100 days wage employment per year per family.

However, there has been a considerable delay in the scheme's implementation in Meghalaya, as the hurdles faced by the government was the absence of a Panchayati Raj system as Meghalaya is a Sixth scheduled state.

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