The Hindu Business Line : AP issues job cards to 39 lakh households

Four months after the launch of the national job guarantee scheme, Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a frontrunner in implementing the scheme, putting in place a "foolproof mechanism" in planning works and disbursal of wages.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, said the State had prepared an elaborate system that was transparent and accountable.

The State had issued `job cards' to 39 lakh households (each card-holder was entitled 100 days of work in a year), about 25 per cent of all cards issued in the country under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Of the 200 districts where the scheme was being implemented, 13 belonged to Andhra Pradesh.

Working with Postal dept

"Andhra Pradesh is the only State to work with the DoP to disburse wages through savings accounts. It joined hands with TCS to offer a good computerised monitoring mechanism," he said.

The Minister said the DoP had opened four lakh savings accounts in the last five months in the State as against 7.5 lakhs issued in the last 54 years. The State also involved women self-help groups in identifying the works. As many as 50 per cent of all labourers seeking work under the scheme were women.

On expanding the NREGS, he said the remaining districts in the country would be covered in the next three years. He also said that there was no proposal to fix minimum wage at Rs 60.

Mr Jairam Ramesh, who represented Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, said he would spend his MPLADS funds for uplift of Chenchus (tribals) in Mahboobnagar, Kurnool and Prakasam districts in the next two years.

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