Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 27 : Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice Abdul Haq Khan today claimed that no MGNREGA liability is pending in the State as on date.
Replying to a question of Congress member Jugal Kishore Sharma in the Upper House here today, Minister said the Rural Development Department cleared Rs 55.42 crore liabilities of MGNREGA works in the twin districts of Udhampur and Reasi during last two financial years. He claimed that even no liability as on date is pending in any district of the State.
Khan said the Government strives to provide full 100 day job to the unskilled job card holders as envisaged in MGNREGA Act 2005 on demand. He said in Reasi and Udhampur districts 2493 households have been provided mandatory 100 day work under the Act during last two financial years of which 2024 households belonged to Reasi district.
The Minister said the payment due on account of wages and the material used in the generation of person-days is updated on MIS which in common parlance is termed as liability. He said the payments get accrued due to the delay in receipt of funds by the department and its further release to the implementing agency and that the creation of liabilities and its payment thereof is a continuous process and part of the scheme.
He, however, said the actions of officials involved in the implementation of MGNREGA are governed by the provisions of the Act and there is a general penal provision for non-compliance to the provisions and may be liable to fine which may be to the extent of Rs 1000.
Jugal Kishore, however, pressed that MGNREGA liability in many blocks of Udhampur and Reasi districts were pending and the reply of the minister was not satisfactory. He said he may have released the amount but it has not reached up to the labour class and it needs thorough probe.
The Minister claimed that old liability worth Rs 450 crore was there after new Govt took over, but that entire liability has now been cleared. An amount of Rs 531 crore was received this year for the works under MGNREGA and there was no paucity of funds as well.
Legislators Sham Lal Bhagat and Ghulam Nabi Monga raised supplementary queries to the main question.
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