23147 Crores released to gear up rural employment

New Delhi, April 13: Giving employment to the rural people is the prime aim of the government hand in order to will also ensure smooth implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the coming months of FY 2018-19, 23,147 crores are released to various States/UTs.

The funds, besides clearing all wage and payment liabilities of the previous year, will also ensure smooth implementation of the scheme in the coming months of FY 2018-19.

In line with the commitment of Central Government towards the release of funds by 10th April 2018, the Ministry has released Rs. 14,995 crore for wages and Rs. 8,152 crore for material expenditure under MGNREGS. This release includes the amount pending as liability for the work done in the last weeks of FY 2017-18.

The States/UTs have been advised to ensure that all the pending liabilities are duly cleared. The Ministry is closely monitoring the compliance. It is important to mention here that the Central Government has an initial budget provision of Rs. 55,000crore in FY 2018-19 which is the highest since the inception of the programme. Last year the initial budget provision was Rs. 48,000crore which was revised upwards during the later stages.

The Central Government pays for 100% of the wage expenditure and 75% of the material expenditure under the scheme. The total expenditure in FY 2017-18 under the scheme was Rs. 64,189 crore. In FY 2017-18, Six States (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya) who are on the National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS) released a cumulative of Rs. 1,570 crore over and above their matching state share. NeFMS has been a great enabler in transferring MGNREGA wages directly to beneficiaries’ bank/post office accounts and there is no hassle if States want to contribute their share or more.

Labour Budget for FY 2018-19 has been finalized through a participatory process with the States/UTs. In FY 2017-18, a total of 233 crore person days were generated which is 101% of the approved labor budget of 231 crores. The programme’s increased outreach is reflected in the lowest number of Gram Panchayats with nil expenditure (11512) in FY 2017-18 since inception. Also, about 86% of the total payments in FY 2017-18 were generated within 15 days of closure of Muster Rolls.

There has been a continued emphasis on the creation of durable and productive assets and on completion of ongoing works.