The Union Rural Development Ministry on Friday claimed that in the first quarter of this fiscal, nearly 80 lakh to one crore labourers have been given jobs under the rural job scheme, MGNREGA, of which 86 per cent was paid wages within 15 days.
"Under the scheme, April to June, 2017 has seen a significant demand for wage labour especially for water conservation works. Nearly 75 crore person days of work has already been created and more is expected by 15th July, 2017. This means that nearly 80 lakhs to 1 crore workers are coming everyday for work in different parts of the country under MGNREGS. Over 86% of them are paid within 15 days," said an official from the Ministry here.
He said that the thrust on agriculture and allied activities, is showing at the field level with 74 per cent expenditure on these works. 2,264 water stressed blocks have received special attention for natural resource management, water harvesting and water conservation. 2.62 lakh water conservation works have been completed in the current financial year including 1,31,789 farm ponds across the country.
"The MGNREGS has created over 91 lakh hectares irrigation potential in the last 2 years which is currently being evaluated by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi. The report is expected by September end.
On the performance of the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural livelihood Mission (DAY-NRlM) which was launched in June, 2011, the official said that they have a higher number of livestock assets as compared to uncovered areas. The scheme was launched with the objective to organize all rural poor households in the country and continuously nurture and support them till they come out of abject povertyThe study of the scheme also showed a higher proclivity to save in formal institutions, though the difference in the quantum of savings is not statistically significant.
The study also found that the households covered under the scheme have 22 per cent higher (net) income than the households in the uncovered areas, largely due to income from enterprises. In fact, the propensity scores estimate that covered villages on an average have 25 enterprises compared to an average of 14 enterprises in the uncovered villages.