Develop villages: Nellai Collector

Tirunelveli Collector, G. Prakash, addressing the district panchayat council meeting on Wednesday.The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, which replaced the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment in a fiscal to the rural poor, was launched in the district on Wednesday.The Collector, G. Prakash, inaugurated a workshop on the scheme for village panchayat presidents.

“Without using materials such as cement, blue metal, brick and heavy equipment and without involving contractors and middlemen, the panchayat presidents, who are Executive Officers of the programme, should provide employment to anyone above 18 years who is willing to work for the creation of community infrastructures,” Mr. Prakash said.The Union Government had introduced the scheme that ensured a salary of Rs. 80 a day for completing a prescribed task such as deepening or creating an irrigation tank or ‘oorani,’ desilting channels, strengthening tank bunds and restoring roads. Jobs should be provided within 15 days from the date of enrolment of the workers’ names.

Mr. Prakash urged the panchayat presidents to maintain records in a meticulous manner so that there would not be any hitch in the execution of the scheme and clearance of bills.“There is no upper limit for spending. Dungarpur district in Rajasthan had spent Rs. 195 crore in a financial year to create community assets. As the district has received a token amount of Rs. 14.41 crore, I appeal to everyone concerned to utilise this opportunity to create and strengthen infrastructure in the villages.

“Utilising the facilities created under this programme as a basement, representatives of local bodies should strive to get funds from MP’s Local Area Development Fund or MLA Constituency Development Fund to reinforce the facilities further,” Mr. Prakash said.The works to be taken up under the job scheme should get approved at grama sabha meeting.The next training programme for panchayat presidents would be held at Valliyoor (July 3) and Tenkasi (July 4).The chairman of district panchayat, M. Graham Bell, appealed to the Collector to initiate steps to include material component also in the scheme so that there would be more avenues to create more assets.The District Rural Development Agency, which organised the training programme, gave a power-point presentation to explain various aspects of the scheme.