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PM and
Sonia tol launch NREGS in AP
Arrangements on for launch NREGS: Tiny
village bracing for big event
Labour wages to be paid through banks
Collectors' meet to focus on job scheme
State Cabinet nod for rural job scheme guidelines
One lakh to be enrolled in Anantapur
Implement job scheme without lapses: YSR
Stress on rural employment guarantee scheme
Rural Job Scheme works only for locals
PM and Sonia to aunch NREGS in AP
HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson
Sonia
Gandhi will visit Andhra Pradesh on February 2, this time to
inaugurate the eagerly awaited National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme at Bandlapalli, a remote village in
Anantapur district. This will be the fourth visit of the
Prime Minister to the State within a span of one month. For
Ms. Gandhi, it will be her second within a fortnight. A team
of three Ministers and officials, headed by Rural
Development Minister D. Srinivas, visited the village, on
Friday.
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Arrangements on for launch NREGS: Tiny village bracing for
big event
P.BANDLAPALLI (ANANTAPUR DT.): Before hitting the headlines
a couple of days ago as the chosen host to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the
launch of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)
on February 2 this tiny village has been as sleepy as most
of the drought-ravaged villages in the district. But, the
opportunity to host the two most influential leaders of the
country has stirred up the activity in the habitation
located 3 km off the Dharmavaram-Tadipatri road. Top
officials of the district and State-level politicians,
including Ministers, have
all made a beeline to the village. The unprecedented
importance being accorded to the village in a span of three
days has caught the villagers unawares.
The tiny village is P. Bandlapalli in Narpala mandal of
Singanamala Assembly Constituency. Small and marginal
farmers and farm workers are the majority in the village
with a population of about 2,800. The demographics explain
that 720 families in the village have 13 per cent SCs, 25
per cent BCs and 50 per cent OCs.
Farm work
Nearly half of the families depend on farm work generated
from rain-fed cultivation, as the village has no sources of
irrigation. About 30 progressive farmers, who raised
sweetlime orchards by sinking borewells up to 500 feet
depth, have all trapped in the vicious
circle of debt. Depletion of groundwater has left only about
a dozen orchards struggling for survival now. Says Obi
Reddy, a farmer, who removed his sweetlime orchard due to
groundwater depletion: "There's no other livelihood except
agriculture. Only irrigation facility can help the village
fight odds."
Water war
The village witnessed a `water war' about 50 years ago over
sharing of an agriculture open well's water. It earned
notoriety for factional feuds generated from the dispute and
13 persons had lost lives in the feuds till mid '90s. The
feuds have subsided over the last decade as the groups
involved have left the village. The village used to have
about 100 pairs of working bullocks not long ago. But the
drop in number to just one-fifth explains the impact of
frequent drought conditions.
About 100 SC and other families migrate in every lean season
for livelihood. "There was a proposal to take Dharmavaram
branch canal water to Peddapappur tank via Bandlapalli
village. But, it did become a reality for the reasons better
known to rulers," says Gangadhar Reddy, another farmer. He
demands irrigation facility to the village with DBC as the
source. Just 40 km away from district headquarters the
village has neither PHC nor veterinary hospital. It doesn't
even have streetlights and the drinking water source is
three km away. The villagers are banking heavily on the
dignitaries' visit hoping that it would spur a change in
their fortunes.
- B. Chandrashekhar
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Labour wages to be paid through banks
HYDERABAD : Wages to beneficiaries under the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme being launched on February 2
will be
paid through banks. The payment will be once in fortnight.
Announcing this on Saturday in clarification of different
aspects
of the scheme five days ahead of its launch, Rural
Development Minister D. Srinivas said the Government had
chosen banks for
wage disbursement to make the transaction recorded and thus
prevent fund leakage. While the wages were fixed at Rs. 80
for
seven hours of work per day, a 10 per cent excess would be
paid towards the transport cost if the worksite was located
beyond
one km of distance from the village.
Funds released
All the funds of the scheme would be `under the control' of
the Collector who had been designated as its district
coordinator. A sum of Rs. 5 crores had been released for one
month each to the five districts which were added to the
list of eight districts selected for implementation of the
scheme for now, the Minister said. He said the Government
was expecting one lakh beneficiaries in each district to
start with, and estimated the scheme's outlay around Rs.
1,300 crores for this year.
No ceiling
Principal Secretary of the department K. Raju clarified that
the scheme, once launched, would phase out the Food-for-Work
programme with a claim over its unspent funds, if any. No
ceiling was fixed on the number of beneficiaries in a
district as was being misunderstood in some quarters, he
said saying: "whoever applies will be provided wage
employment within 15 days. It's a sort of right to work". He
said the "job cards" under the scheme would be distributed
from March 1.
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Collectors'
meet to focus on job scheme
HYDERABAD: Andhra
Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Indiramma will
be given top priority during the two-day Collectors'
conference, beginning here on January 30.
This decision was taken
on Wednesday at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Y.S.
Rajasekhara Reddy to assess the status of Indiramma with
Municipal Administration Minister K. Ranga Rao and senior
officials of the Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration
departments.
According to an official
release, Dr. Reddy wanted the draft list of beneficiaries to
be completed before February 6 and announced at the gram
sabhas scheduled to be organised from February 6-12. Time
should be given for filing objections against the list up to
February 15. Objections should be finalised by February 25
and the final list of beneficiaries should be completed by
March.
Dr. Reddy wanted a note
to be displayed stating that the names of any person, if
found ineligible, would be struck off.
Similarly, if any eligible person's name if found missing
would be considered if he/she applies to MRO and gets his
clearance after verification. For this purpose grievance
desks should be set up in all mandal revenue offices.
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One lakh to
be enrolled in Anantapur
ANANTAPUR: Enrolment of
wage-seekers in the district under the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) will commence on
February 2. Details of the scheme were explained to the ZPTC
members and Mandal Parishad Presidents at the general body
meeting of the Zilla Parishad here on Wednesday.
District Collector Y.V.
Anuradha, however, said that the administrative machinery
for taking up the gigantic programmes was insufficient in
the district. The State Government had already been
requested to permit the administration to allocate dedicated
staff for the purpose at mandal level, she said.
Publicity campaign
It was expected that
some one lakh wage-seeking families would enrol for the
programme to begin with. The programme should not be treated
as the regular source of income as it was conceived to help
the wage-seekers only during the lean period and would
extend only supplementary income, the Collector explained.
As the programme was new, modalities of implementation would
keep changing, she said.
Project Director of
District Water Management Authority E.N. Srinivasulu,
explained that a massive publicity campaign would be
launched to popularise the scheme and public opinion would
also be mobilised by conducting gram sabhas.
Works
shortlisted
Development land
belonging to SC, ST and BCs', soil and moisture conservation
works, bio-diesel plantation, desiltation of traditional
water bodies and supply channels their repairs, rural road
links would be taken up on a priority basis, he explained.
Rural Standard Schedule
of Rates (Rural SSR) would also be worked out for deciding
the wages. The issue was already studied at K.N.Palyam
village in Kadiri mandal.
Members were also told
to give suggestions on the new scheme so that they could be
studied and incorporated. Short supply of groundnut seed
during rabi season, Indiramma villages, bio-diesel
plantation, national horticulture mission, micro irrigation
and other subjects were also discussed at the meeting.
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State Cabinet nod for rural job scheme guidelines
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Wage of Rs. 80
per day to be paid
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Contractors,
machinery not to be engaged
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3 lakh
households to be covered
HYDERABAD:
Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet approved the guidelines
for implementation of the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) from February 15 and set a
target of 15 lakh houses for construction under
Indiramma programme for 2006-07. A five-Minister
group, headed by Minister for Rural Development D.
Srinivas, submitted its report on the NREGS to the
Cabinet at its meeting here on Tuesday. Approving
the recommendations, the Cabinet resolved to adopt
them as guidelines for the State-level scheme --
Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(APREGS).
Information Minister Mohd Ali Shabbir said the
registered persons would be paid Rs. 20 a day for
the first month of the 100-day period if employment
was not provided within 15 days. This would be
increased to Rs. 40 a day for the rest of the
period. The daily wage would be Rs. 80 for those
securing work. The Cabinet resolved not to engage
contractors and machinery.
The APREGS is expected to cover one lakh households
in each of the selected 13 districts in Phase I and
ensure an additional annual income of Rs. 8,000 to
each household. Applications for wage employment
would be received from February 2 itself.
A third of the beneficiaries would be women in line
with the guidelines. Mr. Shabbir said each of the
selected districts would be allotted Rs. 90 crores
from the Centre and Rs. 10 crores from the State.
Asked why only one district -- Vizianagaram -- was
selected from Coastal Andhra, he said more districts
would be covered under the second phase.
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Implement
job scheme without lapses: YSR
Communication
campaign launched
Efforts on to
encourage bio-diesel plantation
Districts which
are left out of the scheme to be included in the
next phase
HYDERABAD :
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has asked
Collectors and officials of 13 districts, where the
Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(APREGS) is being launched next month, to ensure
that there are no lapses in implementing it.
Addressing a meeting here on Monday after launching
the communication campaign along with Union Rural
Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, he
told officials to implement the scheme in a `mission
mode', under which a minimum of 100-day employment
in a year will be provided to the poor.
Dr. Reddy
pointed out that anybody who seeks employment, be it
a small farmer, agricultural labour or artisan, had
to be provided work and this was the `uncompromising
principle' of the scheme. If employment was not
provided within 15 days to those seeking it, the
administration would be required to provide
unemployment allowance, he said.
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Stress on rural employment guarantee scheme
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy
cautioned Collectors that the State Government would
strictly monitor how they implement the Andhra
Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee scheme to be
launched in 13 districts on February 2.
Participating in a videoconference with the
Collectors of these districts on Wednesday, Dr.
Reddy said they would be held accountable if
eligible households were not provided work under the
scheme during the lean season. In the event of
failure to allot work, the Collectors must pay the
families unemployment allowance as provided in the
scheme.
Dr. Reddy reminded the Collectors that employment
guarantee was a major election promise of the UPA
and there would be no compromise in its
implementation. He warned the Collectors against
misappropriation or squandering of funds.
Responding to an observation by Kadapa Collector G.
Asok Kumar, Dr. Reddy said party affiliations would
not be allowed to stand in the way of implementing
the scheme.
He told the Chittoor Collector that the scheme was
the right of commoners and rural artisans and the
Government would not tolerate if this right was
taken away.
He asked the Anantapur Collector to be ready with a
programme to take up pongamia plantation over an
area of 1 lakh acres by July.
The Chief Minister asked all the Collectors and
senior officials to attend the pre-launch workshop
here on January 16. He wanted a festive atmosphere
to prevail in villages when the gram sabhas
connected with the launch were held from February 2
to 4.
He wanted awareness programmes be continued till
February 4 and scheme details shared with people.
Nearly 15 lakh rural families are expected to
benefit earning some Rs. 8,000 a year from the
Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.
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Job scheme
works only
for locals
HYDERABAD: Technical/supervisory staff required to
implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme works will be
recruited from among locals in a mandal, having
Class X, ITI, diploma qualifications.
Persons from other mandals will be employed only if
locals are not available. A daily wage of Rs 80 will
be paid to the beneficiaries. The scheme is being
launched in February to provide guaranteed gainful
employment to 30,000 persons for 100 days in a year,
covering 13 districts in the State. Equal wages will
be paid to both men and women. These were some of
the guidelines finalised by the Cabinet
Sub-committee on the scheme at its third meeting
here on Tuesday. Rural Development Minister D.
Srinivas presided and ministers J. C. Diwakar Reddy,
N. Raghuveera Reddy and G. Vinod attended.
First phase
Entire Telangana and Rayalaseema regions have been
selected except Hyderabad (urban) and Kurnool
districts for the scheme in
its first phase. No district from Coastal Andhra has
been included, as it did not fulfil the three
parameters -- sufficient percentage of SC/ST
population, labour-wage rate and labour
productivity. Mr Srinivas told that 10 per
cent of the cost of the scheme would be met by the
State. The Government's contribution would go
towards unemployment allowance payable to families
who register their names under the scheme, but were
not shown jobs. The allowance would be at the rate
of 25 per cent of the minimum wage payable for the
first 30 days and 50 per cent for the rest of the
100-day period. The Ministers hoped that the scheme
would arrest migration of families for food once and
for all.
Selection of works
The meeting approved guidelines against the use of
machinery which would replace labourers, and on
selection of works at grama sabhas, subject to final
clearance by Collectors, and implementation of 50
per cent of works by the gram panchayat itself.
Mr. Srinivas said the scheme was so distinct that
works suitable even to physically challenged and
pregnant women would be
taken up. He clarified that lands belonging to SCs
and STs could also be developed.
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Courtesy - The Hindu
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