Change in Centre’s policy affecting NREGA implementation

MARGAO: Implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) especially for seasonal work has become difficult now as the Centre has changed its policy of allotting funds to the village panchayats.

While earlier the estimated amount would be allotted in two installments, at present the funds are released only every quarter. Which means that only one-fourth of the sanctioned amount is released and only after utilizing that amount the balance amount is released.

Seasonal works like cleaning of roadside drains could not be undertaken under NREGA this year because of this problem, as only one-fourth of the estimated amount was sanctioned and that was not sufficient to complete all the work.

At Chandor-Cavorim Gram Sabha on  August 20, the Gram Sahayak was grilled over the manner in which the cleaning of the drains was undertaken. He explained as the total amount was not disbursed only the drains were cleaned and the material excavated was not taken away as there were no funds to pay the labourers.

The work could not be completed using panchayat funds too as the labourers registered under NREGA are paid their wages directly through their bank accounts. 

By the time the second installment of the work will be released by the Centre, the excavated mud would have gone back to the drains due to the heavy rains. Incidentally, the second installment is not yet released even though the monsoons are receding and the excavated mud is already going back in the drains and blocked the gutters, thereby making the whole exercise of cleaning the drains before the monsoons useless.

South Goa has another problem, as the number of panchayats in the district has increased by 19, as the panchayats from Ponda talukas are now shifted to South Goa district. There are now 88 panchayats in South Goa.

The labourers are paid Rs 240 per day of which 90 per cent is provided by the centre and the balance 10 per cent by the State. For Goa the Centre has earmarked 50,000 man days per year and money to pay that many labourers is sanctioned generally.