3 lakh mandays generated in three Kashmir districts

Srinagar, Feb 3 (UNI) About 83,000 job cards have been distributed and 3 lakh mandays of work generated in three districts of the Kashmir division under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) so far.

More than 1850 works have been taken up under the scheme in these districts--Anantnag, Kulgam and Kupwara, once a hub of militants-- at an expenditure of Rs 8 crores, an official spokesman said.

On February 2, 2006, the scheme in the first phase was launched in 200 districts of the country including Kupwara, Doda and Poonch.

Now the scheme is being launched in the remaining districts of the country and left over districts of the state from April 1, 2008.

With this, all the existing wage employment schemes like Sameen Guarantee Rozgar Yojna (SGRY) and National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) will be subsumed in the NREGS which will be the flagship wage employment scheme at the National level.

He said that besides providing assured wage employment to the rural households, the scheme aims at creating durable community assets and checking migration of rural labour migration.

He said the scheme ensures guaranteed wage employment of 100 days per year to every registered household and there is no role of any intermediary or contractor in the scheme.

The wages are paid as per the minimum wages act directly to the labourers on muster role basis in the form of cheques or in the assembly of people within a period of 7 to 15 days.

He said that the scheme is unique in many ways and emphasis is laid on training of staff and creating awareness among the masses about the aims and objectives of this demand driven scheme.

Thrust is also laid on transparency and online information for which a programme on Management Information System was also organized. For simplification of procedures, a working standard schedule rate has also been prepared so that the workers understand the estimates in simple form, he added.

UNI BAS VD HT1505