The central Indian state has spent Rs 25 billion of the Rs 31 billion allotted to it by the Indian government for the rural job guarantee programme. It has bested all other Indian states on provision of jobs sought, creation of man-days of employment and completion of works

Madhya Pradesh has outperformed all other Indian states in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), India’s flagship anti-poverty programme, according to media reports. The state tops in every respect, including receipt of funds under the scheme from the Union government, expenditure of funds, creation of man-days of employment, and completion of works.

Madhya Pradesh received funds amounting to Rs 3,129.24 crore during the financial year 2007-08, under the NREGS. Of this amount, Rs 2,504.52 crore has been utilised so far.

Under the demand-oriented scheme, 41,41,989 families in the state have sought employment against which 41,41,826 families have been provided jobs.

During the period under review, 2,434.42 lakh man-days’ worth of employment were made available under the scheme in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the total created man-days, 17.51% of employment was provided to people from scheduled castes, 49.39% to those from scheduled tribes, 42.36% to women, and 33.12% to other beneficiaries.

In all, 292,259 works were started under the NREGS in the state, of which 96,304 have been completed whilst 195,955 are still in progress.

As of December 31, 2007, Madhya Pradesh registered the best performance on all four parameters assessing the functioning of the scheme. In total expenditure, it was followed by Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Orissa.

In the total available funds category, Madhya Pradesh was followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam.

Regarding the creation of man-days, Madhya Pradesh was followed by Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa.

In completion of works, Madhya Pradesh was followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Orissa and Gujarat.

Initially introduced in 200 of India’s most impoverished districts, the ambitious programme was recently extended to cover all districts of the country. Its success in the three years since it was first launched has been patchy.

Source: IANS, April 7, 2008
             Central Chronicle, April 8, 2008
             PTI, April 7, 2008