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Title : Need to extend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to Gram Panchayats and Town Panchayats.
SHRI N.S.V.CHITTHAN (DINDIGUL): The Flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the largest programme in the world for the rural reconstruction was launched in February, 2006. This Act provides livelihood security of the households in rural areas by providing legal guarantee of one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It has inspired the rural women folk through economic empowerment and has broadened their social role in society. The basic tenets of implementation are transparency, vigilance and village participation by creating productive assets at village level such as tanks, ponds supply channels and mud roads.
This scheme which has got overwhelming public response was implemented in 31 States covering 559 districts comprising 4,95,183 villages. More than 3.5 crores of households and more than 140 crores of person days are generated. Total number of works taken up are more than 8.5 lakhs and particularly women participation is 49%.
At present every labourer engaged in this scheme is getting Rs. 80/-per day which should be increased to Rs. 100/-.
Since the Act has brought unprecedented rural uplift, I urge upon the
Government to increase 100 days wage employment to 150 days in a financial year and the scheme be extended to Gram Panchayats and Town Panchayats. The development works carried out by this Act may be extended to the lands owned by private individuals who are marginal farmers.