83 pc hike in NREGA funds for Sikkim
Jun 10th, 2009 | By khmonish | Category: Sikkim | Email |GANGTOK, June 9, 2009 – The Union Ministry for Rural Development has given an 83 per cent hike in the Central funds for NREGA works in Sikkim for the year 2009-10, an official release said.
The total budget for the NREGA works in Sikkim has been set at Rs 75 crore for the financial year of 2009-10. The Central funds will be released on instalment basis based on performance and adherence to transparency safeguards.
The release adds that the average annual outlay for a Gram Panchayat is to the tune of Rs 45 lakh.
The State Government has already charted a novel policy to use the NREGA works for transforming rural Sikkim. The plan of action of the State Government is to shift emphasis to those activities that enhance rural household incomes.
In a major policy initiative, the government has also decided to take up plantation on all kinds of available lands including private holdings in a large scale during the current financial year. The plantations will include orange rejuvenation and plantation besides plantation of fast growing timber trees in degraded private land and forest land. Saplings of fruit trees like apple, litchi, guava, kiwi and other horticulture plantations will be done in private land including plantation of fodder tree saplings.
If implemented in true sense by focusing on strengthening rural livelihoods, this is an historic opportunity to transform rural Sikkim sustainably like never before, says the official release.
A national flagship programme, the NREGA scheme has recently completed three years of implementation here in Sikkim and it is operational in all the 163 Gram panchayat units in the State.
During the last financial year (2008-09), 52,000 rural households (mostly women) participated in this programme, the release adds. Wage payments to the tune of Rs 25 crore were released, creating a multiplier effect and stimulating the rural economy, the release stated.
In order to ensure transparency, the wage payment was routed through 30,000 newly opened bank and post office accounts by the State Government. The muster rolls were also read out in the gram Sabha in Social Audits conducted by reputed NGOs.
Source : Assam Tribune
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