Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 2: The constraints of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils in providing matching share have been creating hurdles in Leh and Kargil districts obtaining optimum benefit of the Centrally sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and a proposal has been submitted to the Rural Development Department for providing assistance from the State Plan instead of asking the Councils to meet the same from meager District Plans.
The limitations of the Hill Councils of Leh and Kargil came to the fore during the field monitoring of the scheme in the Ladakh region by G A Qureshi, former Director General of Economics and Statistics Organization, who being a State Level Monitor of MG NREGA was deputed by the Rural Development Department for the task.
Under the MGNREGA Scheme, the Union Government provides 90 per cent funds for the works and remaining 10 per cent is the State’s matching share. However, the Hill Councils of Leh and Kargil are finding it difficult or rather impossible to take optimum benefit of the MGNREGA Scheme because of its limitations in meeting the State’s share from the meager District Plans, said the report submitted by Mr Qureshi to the Rural Development Department following exhaustive field monitoring of the scheme.
“It is due to financial constraints that Hill Councils have not been submitting large number of projects despite the fact that MGNREGA is a demand driven scheme and has its more relevance in the hilly and difficult terrain districts of Leh and Kargil”, sources said.
Disclosing that during 2011-12 financial year, an expenditure of Rs 5.83 crore was registered under the scheme against the allocation of Rs 5.95 crore in Leh district while as out of Rs 11.85 crore allocation, an amount of Rs 11.66 crore was expended under the scheme in Kargil district, they said, “this indicates how both the districts are keen to derive benefit of the scheme but not obtaining the same because of limitations in meeting matching share”.
While endorsing the demand of the Hill Councils that 10 per cent matching State share should be provided from the State’s Annual Plan, Mr Qureshi, in his report, has stressed the Rural Development Department to have sympathetic look and help both the districts in obtaining maximum benefit of the Centrally sponsored scheme.
It also came to fore during the field monitoring that labourers belonging to remotely located areas were facing numerous difficulties in getting payments as there is a provision in the scheme to make payment by bank cheque or through Postal Department. “Several parts of these districts lack banking or Postal Department facilities and in such a situation the labourers are traveling huge distance to finally get the payments”, sources said, adding “it has been recommended by Mr Qureshi that Rural Development Department should place a proposal before the State Employment Guarantee Council headed by Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, for certain relaxations in this regard”.
It has also been observed that because of limited working season in Ladakh and delay in release of funds under MGNREGA, the completion of works was getting badly affected. “It has been recommended that for the Ladakh region the funds should be released just at the start of financial year so that Leh and Kargil Hill Councils could make judicious use of the funds”, sources further said.
The other recommendations made to the Rural Development Department include generating awareness about the guidelines of the scheme among the Panchayats, filling up of vacant posts of Rural Development Department in both the districts and effective training to the staff dealing with on-line monitoring of the scheme.
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