Labour engagement under MGNREGA crosses 50 lakh in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: The labour engagement under MGNREGA in Rajasthan crossed 50 lakh on Monday, an increase of 49.58 lakh workers within a span of 52 days, as many migrant workers are still demanding for work under the scheme.
Deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said, in terms of labour engagement and planning, Rajasthan ranks first in the country. Around 13 lakh migrant workers were employed under the scheme, he said. Rajasthan has recorded 17% of the country’s employment generation under the scheme, with the total labour engagement being 2.9 crore. “Due to lockdown, only 62,000 workers were employed on April 17. Labour planning and coordinated efforts of the department have increased it to 50.20 lakh on June 8,” he said. If a family in Rajasthan has five members, the job guarantee scheme is providing livelihood to 2.5 crore people in the state.
In labour engagement, Rajasthan is followed by Uttar Pradesh (41.41 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (26.57 lakh), West Bengal (23.23 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (22.02 lakh). Bhilwara district has registered highest with 4.11 lakh.
“During this crisis situation (Covid-19 pandemic), people are getting financial support in rural areas because of employment under MGNREGA,” he added.
Other than this Sachin Pilot said the use of ‘e-panchayat software’ in the gram panchayats has given impetus to the implementation of development works under various schemes of rural development and panchayati raj department during the lockdown period and ensured uninterrupted flow of work.
He said, so far, 4.70 lakh works have been registered through e-panchayat software and 12.44 lakh administrative, technical and financial approvals have been done. Payment of Rs 2,626 crore has been made by the gram panchayats through the software and about Rs 3,017 crore has been paid to the beneficiaries who built toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), said Pilot.
“Through this software, transfer of funds from state to gram panchayats, finalising annual plan, administrative, technical and financial approvals; payment to vendors; utilization and completion certificates (UC / CC) of the amount spent and bank tallying works are being done online,” said Pilot.
“Online entry, monitoring and reporting of various information related to village master plan is also being done through e-panchayat software,” he added. He said, monitoring and reporting of various camps like Mahatma Gandhi Gramotthan camp will be executed through the software. “The software has been implemented to make the functioning of panchayati raj institutions transparent and to provide easy information to the public about the development works. Effective monitoring is also being done. Financial irregularities and corruption will also be curbed,” he said.