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Stating that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) is a demand-driven scheme, the Centre on Thursday clarified that during the current financial so far more than 240 crore person-days has been generated and more than ₹68,568 crore released for the implementation of the scheme in States and UTs. This statement from the Ministry of Rural Development comes after a group of economists, researchers and activists wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister expressing their concern about the funds crunch in MGNREGA and demanding immediate release of additional funds to ensure that the scheme functions according to the law.
‘Increased allocation’
“Fund release towards wage and material is a continuous process. There has been an increase of more than 18 per cent of funds allocation for the current financial year in comparison to the previous financial year as budget estimate. During the current financial year, so far more than ₹68,568 crore funds have been released for the implementation of the scheme in the States/UTs.,” the Ministry said in a statement.
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It further added that whenever additional funds are required, the Finance Ministry is requested to provide the funds and it pointed had allocated ₹50,000 crore additional funds for the MGNREGA scheme over and above the Budget Estimates.
“Recently, the Ministry of Finance allocated additional funds of ₹10,000 crore for MGNREGA as an interim measure. Further, allocation may be made upon assessment of demand during the Revised Estimate stage,” the Ministry added.
‘240 crore person-days’
MGNREGA provides guarantee of at least 100 days of employment against the demand made by a household in rural areas. During the current financial year, so far, more than 240 crore person-days have been generated as per the demand by the beneficiaries, the statement added.
Also see: Release funds to MGNREGA, urge economists in open letter to PM
“Government of India is committed to release funds for wage and material payments for proper implementation of the MGNREGA scheme, as per the provisions of the act and guidelines applicable for Central Government as well as State Governments,” the Rural Development Ministry added.
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