Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot Thursday directed officials of the rural development and panchayati raj department to give priority in creating man-days for maximum people under the national rural employment guarantee scheme to make people self reliant.

Addressing the department officials during the first review meeting after taking charge, the Congress leader asked the district collectors and chief executive officers (CEOs) to hold special campaign from January 5-20 to publicise the employment scheme and distribute job cards to the deprived families.

“In order to make the campaign successful, the CEOs and development officers should visit the camps, remove irregularities related to creation of job cards, and provide receipts to people in search of work within 15 days,” Pilot said.

He directed the department to prepare an action plan for districts with only a few labourers getting work under the NREG scheme. Pilot asked officials to pay special attention on pending works related to the department and completing them by March 31. “We must also ensure that payment of wages (to the labourers employed under the scheme) are not delayed and that alternate employment opportunities for skilled labourers are created,” Pilot said.

The deputy CM expressed concern over the non-utilisation of funds under various schemes and asked additional chief secretary Rajeshwar Singh to constitute a team that will hold meetings at the block level with the collectors and inspect execution of the work.

He asked Singh to prepare a status report of Rurban Mission and Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan, and submit it to the central government. He also issued directions for the effective implementation of schemes such as the housing scheme, Swachh Bharat Mission, and projects related to Rajeevika, bio-fuel, barren and pasture land among others.

Govt nod for increase in old-age pension

The state government has ordered to increase the old age pension, which will be effective retrospectively from January 1, 2019.

The social justice and empowerment department has issued an order increasing the monthly pension for people aged below 75 years from Rs 500 to Rs 750. For those aged above 75, the new pension amount will be Rs 1,000 as against Rs 750 per month.

No Deen Dayal Upadhyay’s logo in official documents

Reversing the order of the erstwhile Vasundhara Raje’s government, the Ashok Gehlot government has decided to remove the logo of BJP and RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay from official documents and government letter pads.

The state printing and stationary department issued the orders to this effect on Wednesday, revoking the BJP circular released on December 11, 2017.

First Published: Jan 04, 2019 16:05 IST