STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Over eight lakh works under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) remained incomplete in the state by the end of 2022–23 since its inception in 2006.
Statistics from the Union Ministry of Rural Development cut a sorry figure insofar as the completion of MGNREGA works in Assam is concerned as of July 7, 2023.
MGNREGA is the Government of India’s rural employment guarantee scheme, mainly with the twin objectives of job creation and asset creation in rural areas.
According to the statistics of the Union Ministry, the State Government has started 19,16,122 works under MGNREGA up to the financial year 2022–23 since 2006. Of them, 11,04,593 were completed, and 8,11,529 remained incomplete in the state.
What is even more dismal is that as many as 89,090 works from the period from 2006 to 2020–21 remained incomplete in the state.
As many as 1,49,340 of the 3,03,696 works started under MGNREGA in the financial year 2021–22 were completed, and 1,54,356 works remained incomplete until July 7, 2023.
Like-wise, in the financial year 2022–23, only 1,57,058 of the 7,25,121 works were completed, leaving as many as 5,68,083 works incomplete until July 7, 2023.
The local gaon panchayats implement the works under MGNREGA under the supervision of the Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Department in the state. Only people with MGNREGA job cards are eligible to get jobs under this scheme.
Though the present State government has performed better to an extent in the completion of houses under the PMAY-G (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin), it has not been that successful in the completion of works under MGNREGA. Since works under MGNREGA schemes are for rural development, the State Government needs to find out the reasons that put hurdles in the completion of such works in the state.
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