MGNREGS: Assam cuts a sorry figure in the first six months of this fiscal

GUWAHATI: In what can be called a major blow to the guarantee to right to employment, only 2,620 households have got 100-day works under the MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) in Assam in the first six months of this fiscal. This has been reflected in the statistics of the Union Ministry of Rural Development. The twin objective of MGNREGS is giving 100-day works to every household with job card under this scheme to enhance livelihood security to people and to create assets in rural areas. However, the scheme has cut a sorry figure in the State, so has its twin objective.

In the past six months of this fiscal, the districts with the worst performance are Kamrup (M) and Udalguri. Each gave 100-day works to only one household. A few other districts that have performed very poor are – Dhubri: Five households; Sivasagar: 11 households; Bongaigaon: 12 households; Sonitpur: 14 households; Dima Hasao and Jorhat: 15 households each; Biswanath: 16 households; Tinsukia: 17 households; Karbi Anglong and Karimganj: 20 households each.

Barpeta district has performed the best in the scheme by giving 100-day works to 488 households in the past six months of this fiscal.

MGNREGS is implemented at the grassroots level by the panchayats.