Agartala, Aug 1: The Union Ministry of Rural Development has applauded Tripura Government's performance in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the last fiscal.
The ministry had held review meeting of progress of key processes under NREGA in New Delhi last week with the state Nodal Officers of 16 states, including Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, and expressed satisfaction over the performance of Tripura.

Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi July 30, 2008, 0:50 IST

The UPA government is planning to amend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to redefine the beneficiaries under the Act.

At present, the Act provides 100 days of work per household. The idea is to substitute the word

Reiterating government's commitment to ensure equitable development of all the regions of the state, Minister for Rural Development and Panchyat Raj Mula Ram inaugurated Gurah Pattan lift irrigation scheme worth Rs. 110.46 lakh from Ranbir Canal here today. This project had been started in 2004-05 under NABARD in the left bank of river Chenab in Ranbir Canal to cater to the irrigation requirements of agriculture land of 800 acres.

Sandip Das Launched in February 2006, UPA government's mega National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which for the first time guaranteed 100 days of manual labour to each rural household, continue to make news for all the right as well as wrong reasons. Initially launched in the 200 backward districts as identified by the Planning Commission, the impact of NREGA has been a mixed bag.

The Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects, brought out by the union government, is an adapted version of the Parthasarathy Committee Report. This article highlights some of the major features of the guidelines and discusses ways to take forward the main concerns that have engaged much of the recent policy discourse on watershed development.

Concerned over the dismal performance of banks in giving credits to self-help groups (SHGs) under the poverty alleviation programme, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY), the Ministry of Rural Development has set up a committee to suggest measures to overhaul the scheme. R Radhakrishnan, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, has been appointed as chairman of the committee, which is expected to submit its report in July. Radhakrishnan had earlier headed an expert group on agricultural indebtedness.

To ensure transparency in implementation of rural development projects in north-eastern States, the Centre has asked the concerned State Governments to regularly submit reports to the Union Rural Development Ministry. Official sources said here today that the NE State governments were asked to develop mechanisms for ensuring timely verification of the work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and report it to the Ministry at frequent intervals.

In a bid to hit back at the chief ministers who have complained of inadequate funding for rural development projects, especially the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh released a report detailing funding for the last eight years. "I challenge any chief minister to stand up now and say that he didn't get money from the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)," he thundered.

The national rural employment guarantee scheme completes two years and moves to cover all the districts in the country. Has it been worth it?

Minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has stressed upon the supply of good quality of water and given highest priority to sanitation programmes in the Interntional Sanitation Year. Addressing a press conference about the out come of the recent two-day meeting of the state secretaries in charge of rural drinking water supply and sanitation in the country, he said sustainability of water sources and convergence among various programmes to achieve drinking water security was of the utmost importance.

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