Narmada displaced to be given jobs under NREGS

Bhopal, Jan 14: Several thousand families displaced due to many dams on the Narmada river and facing lack of regular employment near their rehabilitation sites in Madhya Pradesh will be given employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

A working plan to engage the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Below Poverty Line families in the employment guarantee programme had been prepared by the Narmada Valley Development Authority and Rural Development departments.

About 40,000 families from Indira Sagar, 37,143 families from Sardar Sarovar, 4,592 families from Omkareshwar reservoir and 3,580 families from Maan and Jobat reservoir area were displaced and they had been resettled at different places and rehabilitation sites.

Though each eligible family had been provided special employment subsidy, getting regular employment at new habitat was the major problem faced by most families, official sources said today.

Construction of water courses and field channels in the command area would be taken up under the NREGS. A sub-plan titled '' Sahasra Dhara'' had been prepared for constructing the water courses and it would be implemented in phases, NVDA Vice Chairman Pradeep Bhargava said.

Bargi, Maan and Jobat project command area would be covered in first phase. A minimum of Rs one lakh per family would be spent over a period of three years, Mr Bhargava said.

UNI