DG-rank officer to head NREGA
MUKESH RANJAN
New Delhi, Jan. 26: In a major move to unshackle UPA’s ambitious schemes under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from huge regional variations in the level of implementation and also the resource crunch because of restriction on allocation beyond 11th Plan (2007-11) target, the government is actively considering putting the entire programme on a "mission mode" with an officer in the rank of director general heading it.Aware of the political implication of the MGNREGA and at the same time afraid of objections from ministries dealing with other sectors, if funding is further increased to go beyond the 11th Plan target, the Planning Commission, at a recent review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has suggested that the flagship programme should be placed on mission mode. The move is intended to ensure committed funding to the schemes under MGNREGA irrespective of all other developments.
With the finance ministry understood to have agreed to a meagre 15 per cent increase in the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) to fund the Plan expenditure in the Budget for 2010-11, the Plan panel is concerned on how to ensure adequate funds for the politically sensitive rural development programmes like MGNREGA.
Sources in the commission pointed out that the MGNREGA is unlikely to get any increase in the budgetary support. The "pro poor" programme was allocated Rs 39,100 crores in the last Budget. "We have sought the Prime Minister’s approval for setting up the ‘Mission MGNREGA’, which would act as a regulatory mechanism for effective implementation of the act," the sources said.
At the meeting the Plan panel gave a presentation to the Prime Minister, a copy of which is with this newspaper.
In the presentation, the Plan pane, apart from achievements, also highlighted major quality and process related hindrances.
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