Rs 4.51 cr released to Sikkim, under NREGA scheme

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) Under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), an amount of Rs 4.51 crore has been released to Sikkim during 2006-07, according to an official statement issued here today.

Against this, about Rs 2.50 crore is utilised till February 2007, which is 55.36 per cent of the total availability, the statement added.

The expenditure on wages is 79.73 per cent and material is 20.27 per cent. The average expenditure of a district in the state is Rs 2.50 crore compared to the national average of Rs 35 crore.

The act provides that 1/3rd of the employment should be provided to women. In the state about 24.79 per cent person days of employment has been provided to women, 0.73 per cent to SC and 97.86 per cent to members of ST.

The scheme, which was initially launched in one district of Sikkim is now been extended to two more districts in the year 2007-08.

The statement added till February, 2007, 0.04 lakh households demanded employment and all of them were provided employment in the state.

The average number of households provided employment in a district of the state is 3,969, while the national average is 91,685 households.

The number of person days of employment provided in the state is 2.34 lakh. The average person days of employment provided in a district is 2.34 lakh compared to the national average of 36.47 lakh person days.

UNI