Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Shri Anil Sharma said that 177.07 lakh mandays had been generated under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) against target of 258.29 lakh during last fiscal year. He was presiding over a Review Meeting of State Employment Guarantee Council, here today.Shri Sharma said that during this period 4.67 lakh families had demanded employment out of which 4.23 lakh families were provided employment. He said out of total 177.07 lakh mandays, the women alone earned 111.81 lakh mandays which were 63.14 percent and highest in the country. He said that 116389 works were approved under MNREGA during previous year, out of which 44512 works had been completed and remaining 71877 works were in progress. He said Rs. 391.51 crore had been spent under the scheme as against allotted Rs. 397.18 crore which was 98.57 percent. He said Rs. 287.95 crore were spent on labour component which was 77 percent of the total budget and the average was best in the country.
Rural Development Minister said there were 911559 active MNREGA labourers in the State and 876800 had been linked with Aadhaar. Similarly 75 percent Aadhaars have been linked with bank accounts. The department would initiate special campaign for achieving cent percent target.He said that PRIs play a vital role in the development of the State and they should prepare shelves of development works in consultation with the concerned departments and get these approved in Gram Sabha so that benefits of the scheme percolated till grass root level. He said that the aim of the scheme was to create permanent assets. He said special emphasis was being laid on the construction of farm ponds, vermin compost, anganwadi centers besides plantation along road sides during this year and district wise targets had also been fixed. He urged various departments for identifying more and more schemes through convergence under MNREGAs and also ensure effective implementation.Secretary Panchayati Raj Shri Onkar Sharma detailed out the various activities being undertaken under MNREGA in the State.Heads of various departments, PRI representatives, official and non official members of the Council and others were also present in the meeting.