With about `12,000 crore lying unspent since the last financial year under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which has another `33,000 crore in this year’s budget, the ministry of rural development may soon approach the Cabinet for approval to enhance the guaranteed 100 mandays to 150 for the flagship scheme in the current fiscal. The ministry is also looking at various options to link other schemes with MNREGA to spur spending under the flagship scheme. There was a more than 20 per cent slump in job demand under NREGA in the last financial year and hence less spending under the flagship scheme.
“With last year’s unspent balance and this year’s budget we have about `45,000 crore for the NREGA. The ministry will soon approach the Cabinet to enhance the current statutory 100 days guaranteed to 150 days so as to meet demand in rural areas due to late monsoon rains. We have enough funds at our disposal to meet more job demand,” said a senior official of the ministry.
However, the ministry, in an internal assessment, has found the states have not been able to spend funds under NREGA due to capacity constraints and internal weaknesses of the scheme in making timely payments, the official added. A number of states, including Trinamul-ruled West Bengal and BJP-led Karnataka, have raised the demand that the guaranteed man days under NREGA be enhanced to 200 from the current 100 days.
The ministry is looking at various other options to boost job demand within the NREGA by linking it to building of toilet blocks under the Indira Awas Yojna and setting up more Anganwadi centres to sanitise women on health issues. “Internal reform in the MNREGA and linking it to other activities are likely to boost job demand in rural areas,” he said.