Ovais Gora
SRINAGAR
Jammu has walked away with lion’s share under the central Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
As per the data provided by the department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Kashmir province has received funds of Rs 11402.14 crore under MGNREGA Scheme since 2006, whereas Jammu province has been allocated more than Rs 18777 crore in the same time period.
In Kashmir province, District Kupwara topped the list by receiving Rs 19344.5 lakhs, whereas in Jammu province, District Poonch topped the list by receiving Rs 30936.42 lakhs. District Srinagar has bagged only Rs 743.83 lakhs.
Though Kashmir exceeds Jammu province in terms of population, geographical area and number of districts, it still lags behind Jammu in terms of MGNREGA scheme funds by a huge margin of Rs 7374.62 crore.
The scheme aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’ and ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
Under the scheme, any adult who applies for employment in rural areas has to be given work on local public works within 15 days so as to protect rural household from poverty and starvation.
Lately, many labourers are protesting in the valley raising their voices against the delay in providing wages to them under the scheme.
