Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan -2010 gets underway tomorrow

In order to commemorate the completion of the fourth year of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, the Ministry Of Rural Development is organizing Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan on Tuesday, the 2nd February ,2010 . Four years ago on the same day, the scheme was launched from Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh with the objective to provide every rural household a guarantee of at least 100 days of employment during a financial year by providing unskilled manual work in rural areas to those members of the rural household who volunteer to do such work. It is now spread over all the 621 districts of the country. The Sammelan aims to highlight the achievements of the State Governments in rural development. The interactions during the Sammelan will serve to facilitate exchange of information among State Governments, media persons, and members of the rural households. In addition it will provide an opportunity for learning and dissemination of best practices in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA across the country.

During the Sammelan, “Report to People on Mahatma Gandhi NREGA” showcasing the performance under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA over the past four years would be released by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi would release booklet titled “Rozgar Sutra” highlighting the provisions, rights and entitlements under the act. “Voices from the field” an interactive session has been organized wherein the workers who have completed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and the Sarpanches/Mates from the rural areas would be sharing their experiences along with the District Project Co-ordinators. The District Programme Coordinators and their district teams, bank and post office functionaries and civil society organizations would be felicitated for their exemplary work.

Around 1200 participants from all over the country are likely to participate in the deliberations. These include among others the State Rural Development Ministers, the Deputy Chairperson and Members of Planning Commission, Members of Central Employment Guarantee Council, awardees of excellence in NREGA administration, awardees of Rozgar Jagrookta Puraskar Scheme, awardees of financial inclusion for Banks and Post Offices ,representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions, District Program Co-ordinators and his team members, Senior State Government Officials from the Rural Development Ministry, Heads of Financial institutions including Post Offices, Banks and Insurance Companies.

Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has provided employment to 4.15 crore households. Experience shows that the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable groups have sought employment under the programme. Over the past four years of its implementation, the Central Government has released over 75000 crore to the State Governments. Nearly 69% of this amount has been paid as wages to NREGA workers. Under the scheme women’s participation has gone up from constitutionally mandated 33 % to 50% in FY 09-10. The participation rate of marginalized sections of the society under the act has gone up with nearly 52% of the beneficiaries in FY 2009-10 belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST). The scheme has resulted in the financial inclusion of more than 8.6 crore workers who have opened bank/post office accounts under the Scheme, has encouraged thrift and savings. The focus now is on tackling delayed payments under the act and streamlining the implementation with proactive disclosure, conduct of social audits, effective grievance redressing mechanisms like Ombudsmen in each district and independent monitoring by professional agencies to ensure transparency and accountability under the scheme.

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AKT/ST/SAK