The state government claims that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has benefited 93 lakh households.
Minister for Rural development and NREGS Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, on Thursday, stated that the state government has spent Rs. 3,375 crores, the highest amount in the country, towards the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Talking to media persons at the state Secretariat during the Prajahitham program, the minister said that expenditure of Rs. 22,512 crore was incurred since the inception of NREGS, benefiting 93 lakh households.
He said that 179 crore man-days were provided to rural households, with an average wage rate of Rs. 93, amounting to a total wage bill of Rs. 16,736 crores.
Stating that 1.89 crore labourers had made use of NREGS at least once, he said that 34 lakh acres of fallow and cultivable land belonging to SC, ST, and SM farmers was taken up for comprehensive land development.
He said that 18,161 minor irrigation tanks were taken up, stabilising an ayacut of 8.5 lakh acres. Rural connectivity was taken up to the extent of 25,048 kms, with an expenditure of Rs. 1825 crores, he said.
The minister claimed that the scheme was implemented in a transparent manner, giving no room for suspicion, by adopting a biometric payment system, a social audit system, and a vigilance wing.
He added that to ensure sustainable and comprehensive development of land, the government proposes to implement Indira Jala Prabha, a project to provide irrigation, under the NREGS. He said that 10 lakh acres of land of the poorest of the poor households of SCs and STs would be brought under the scheme.
Apart from this, the government has decided to construct 40 lakh toilets in villages.
Admitting that Rs. 19.8 crore has been misappropriated in the scheme, he said that 162 cases have been registered and 789 officials have been suspended under various charges.
The minister quoted CRISIL's report, that said that the purchasing power of villagers, and their nutrition levels, have increased with the implementation of NREGS in rural areas. (INN)