States must not ‘localise’ NREGA scheme: Centre
With many states trying to take credit for the UPA government’s flagship scheme, MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), the government on Monday told Parliament that funds allocation for the scheme could even be stopped to states that try and given the scheme a local name.
Stating this in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Union minister of state for rural development, Mr Pradeep Jain, said that the ministry has already written to the states more than once to not give local names to sub-schemes being run in convergence with NREGA. Mr Jain told the House that the ministry wrote to the states on June 10 and then again on July 14 asking them not to give local names to such schemes warning them that if this was done, the Centre would not give money.
Interestingly, with most of this so-called renaming being done by non-Congers ruled states, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, stood up to defend this practice. Ms Swaraj told the House that this had actually made MGNREGA more effective and had not weakened it and therefore the Centre should not be talking about discontinuing funds if the name was changed.
To which Union minister for rural development C.P.Joshi responded by saying that no one is allowed to violate the Act and that BJP-led governments to should adhere to the Act.
The government on Monday warned the states that no state-specific or local name be given to projects under failing which the funds can be discontinued. Earlier, the issue of states renaming MGNREGA was raised by Congress MP Narayan Singh Amlabe who represents Rajgarh constituency of Madhya Pradesh. He accused certain state governments of running MGNREGA of their own free will and asked why the scheme should not retain its original name.
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