Chhattisgarh was on Sunday conferred with the prestigious national award in five categories for successful implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). It is for the third consecutive year that the State has received the award.
Chhattisgarh received the first prize in Convergence category for the year 2012-13. The State has also been chosen for effective initiative towards sustainable livelihood.
Rajnandgaon and Bijapur districts and ‘Kharthuli’ gram panchayat of Balod district in Chhattisgarh have been chosen for exemplary performance in implementing MGNREGA in fiscal 2012-13. Chhattisgarh Panchayat and Rural Development Additional Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand received the award from Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh at a function held to commemorate the completion of the eighth year of the commencement of the Act, 2005, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi . Union Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain and lalchand Kataria were also present at the convention.
Dhand said the State has bagged these awards due to its systematic approach towards employment generation in tribal-dominated areas.
He said that by spending Rs2,232 crore in 2012-13, the State had provided 12.10 crore man employment to the workers in rural areas under MGNREGA. Seven districts and eleven gram panchayats in the country have been selected for the award. Rajnandgaon district has been chosen for the award in ‘leadership’ category for providing 100-days employment to 29,367 families.
Rajnandgaon district Panchayat CEO Priyanka Shukla received the award from the Union Minister in this category. Bijapur district Collector Mohammad Kaisar Abdul Haq also received the award for better implementation of MGNREGA in challenging situation. ‘Kharthuli’ gram panchayat of Balod district was given the award for extraordinary work in implementation of MGNREGA. The award was received by ‘Kharthuli’ gram panchayat ‘Sarpanch’ Shri Gauram Pisda.
Dhand said out of the Rs2,232 crore spent in the year 2012-13, 90 per cent was used by ‘sarpanchs’ of gram panchayats. He added that as per the provision 60 per cent of the fund was to be spent on payment. ‘Sarpanchs’ of the state spent 76 per cent on payment. Dhand informed that successful implementation of MGNREGA has resulted in minimising the number of migrating labourers. He further said that the scheme has also contributed to remarkable increase in paddy production in Bastar and Sarguja districts.
He said a large portion of the state comes under reserve forest, where works have been carried out through systematic planning under the guidance of Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh. 55 per cent families in these villages have been benefitted under the scheme. He added that 2.44 lakh families have worked for more than 100-days under the scheme. Rajnandgaon is amongst the first seven districts of the country’s 82 IAP districts in providing 100-days employment. 93.3 per cent construction work in the district has been completed since commencement of MGNREGA.
Rajnandgaon is amongst the top ten districts at national level.Two lakh 27 thousand 589 families have been provided employment as against the labour budget target of one lakh 62 thousand 194 families in Chhattisgarh in the year 2012-13. Women partnership in employment was also remarkable during the fiscal. 55 per cent women participated in guaranteed employment. ‘Kharthuli’ gram panchayat of Balod district received the award for spreading awareness about implementation of MGNREGA, especially in land reforms and payment to workers through banks.