Plan panel seeks PMs nod to set up Mission NREGA

Concerned that the governments aam aadmi flagship scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA is witnessing see-sawing performance....

Concerned that the governments aam aadmi flagship scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA is witnessing see-sawing performance,the government is all set to put the programme in a Mission Mode.

If the Planning Commission has its way then a dedicated Mission would be created,headed by an officer of the rank of director general to spearhead the Mission MGNREGA. The Commission at a recent review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested that the flagship programme be placed in a mission mode. We have sought the Prime Ministers approval for setting up the Mission MGNREGA,which would act as a support mechanism for the effective implementation of the Act by laying special emphasis on the neglected aspects of professional human resource deployment and capacity building,use of IT and social audit. It is these soft elements to be met out of the 6 per cent allotted for administrative expenses under the Act that govern the quality of outcomes achieved through the 94 per cent spent on works, Commission member Mihir Shah told The Indian Express.

The Rural Development Ministry has already approached the Finance Ministry seeking its approval for additional officers

to strengthen the sole Joint Secretary who currently looks after the MGNREGA.

In its presentation,a copy of which is with this newspaper,the Plan panel top brass told the Prime Minister that concerns linger on the implementation front in many states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which have a 10 per cent gap between their share in Indias poor and their share in the employment generated under MGNREGA. While states like West Bengal,Madhya Pradesh; Karnataka,Orissa and Gujarat have a gap of 5 percent,Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have emerged as the top performers.

In the presentation,the Plan panel candidly highlighted major quality and process-related bottlenecks including corruption,delays in payment to beneficiaries,lack of awareness about new features of the programme,only 19 per cent of differently-abled registered workers getting work,failure to introduce multiplier-accelerator synergy to reduce dependence on MGNREGA with passage of time and the need

to reform institutions like CAPART and NIRD that could provide vital support to improving the quality of implementation of the programme.