Ensure VB-G RAM G jobs for all eligible workers to check migration: Eshwar Khandre
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre directed officials to ensure effective implementation of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre directed officials to ensure effective implementation of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) scheme in Ballari district to provide employment to eligible workers locally and prevent distress migration. Chairing a review meeting on the progress of schemes of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department at the new Abdul Nazir Sab auditorium of the zilla panchayat in Ballari on Sunday (August 9), Mr. Khandre said inadequate rainfall had affected agricultural activities in the district, increasing the possibility of people migrating to cities in search of employment. He directed officials to ensure that every eligible worker in rural areas was given employment under the scheme. Expressing dissatisfaction over the district achieving only 46% of the person-day generation target set up to June, the Minister said that Ballari has a target of generating 51.3 lakh person-days during the current year.
He directed officials to accelerate employment generation and create at least five to six lakh person-days every month. The officials informed the meeting that there were 1.84 lakh active job cards covering around 4.6 lakh workers in the district, of which e-KYC was completed for about 1.3 lakh job cards. The Minister then instructed officials to complete the remaining e-KYC process at the earliest. ‘No excuses for delay in providing work’ Khandre expressed particular displeasure over the performance of Ballari taluk, where there are around 48,000 active job cards, but only about 11,000 workers are being given employment per day. The taluk panchayat executive officer attributed the delay to the completion of earlier works and the time taken to prepare an action plan for new works. The Minister, however, directed officials not to offer excuses and immediately take up individual and community-based works. Officials to be held accountable for migration Khandre said that preventing the migration of poor people and members of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class communities in search of work was a major priority of the government.
“If people migrate from any area because they have not been given employment, the executive officer and panchayat development officer concerned will be held responsible,” Mr. Khandre warned, directing officials to continuously monitor the employment guarantee programme and ensure that wages were credited regularly to workers’ bank accounts. Timely payment, he said, would increase workers’ confidence in the scheme. ‘No shortage of funds’ Khandre said there was no shortage of funds for the scheme and that more than ₹1,000 crore had already been released to zilla panchayats. “During the first quarter, the State government has provided ₹1,200 crore and the Union government ₹1,700 crore. The officials should maintain complete transparency and strictly follow the rules. They should personally inspect worksites. Technical supervisors, executive officers and IEC coordinators, besides senior officials, should actively participate in field-level implementation. Merely showing works on records without actually executing them will not be tolerated,” he warned.
The BriefWire