S Tahir-ul Haq
Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 5: The State Administrative Council (SAC) which met under the chairmanship of Governor, Satya Pal Malik has approved the guidelines/procedure to be followed by Halqa Panchayat for implementation of MGNREGA as mandated in Schedule 1 of the amended J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989.
The guidelines are mainly regarding the transfer of 80% MGNREGA funds to Panchayats, the procedure for operation of funds by Panchayats, timelines to be followed under MGNREGA, planning, decision making, expenditure and monitoring guidelines for better implementation of the Scheme in the State.
These guidelines/procedures shall further strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions and making grass root planning and decision making into a reality.
According to sources there are scores of rural villages in Jammu and Kashmir, where RDD has never done updation of job cards, and with the result no other poor family or persons could take benefit of the scheme, that was mainly launched for the common masses so that they can take benefit of it.
They said that the scheme has not run as it was supposed to be, like the department concerned gave preference to the selected beneficiaries and educated and downtrodden families were always ignored.
While sources also said that, the scheme benefited only those people who were either from the land lorded or close to the employees in the department or the workers of some political parties.
At some places there were good results of this centrally sponsored scheme, but from certain areas there were complaints that, the material that was used for construction of bunds and culverts was not standard, and the fake bills were drawn for repeated works, sources told Early Times.
They said that at many places the work that was carried under MGNREGA was not completed at the scheduled time and the amount that was sanctioned got either lapsed or remained un-utilized, due to which the village suffered a lot for want of work.
Sources also alleged that the department concerned has failed to maintain the records of their works, and the daily wagers faced many difficulties whenever they asked for the remuneration at the end of their work.
It is welcome step if the work under MGNREGA is supervised by the Halqa Panchayat, as they are aware about the problems the people are facing in their areas, sources added. |
