The stage is set for universalising the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and extending it to all the 596 rural districts in the country from April 1.

The construction works of No 2 Tihu Bhumuk Joranadi bund with funds, worth Rs 4.80 lakh under Hariyali scheme at Baska Development Block in Baksa district was inaugurated by Moon Singh Brahma, MCLA, N

The same implementation structure that has failed rural development over decades cannot be deployed for the radically new programme promised by NREGA.

Expansion of NREGA and Tribals Act to be highlighted The Congress will hold farmers' conventions and rallies in all States during this month and April.

The Assam Assembly today witnessed a ruckus during the discussion on the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the State during the Question Hour. Replying to questions, State Panchayat and Rural Development (P & RD) Minister Chandan Brahma said the scheme was being implemented in its true spirit, benefiting the poor rural masses. The Opposition members, however, alleged that massive corruption was going on in the name of allocation of job cards under the NREGA, with middlemen and contractors being involved in the scheme. AGPLP leader Chandra Mohan Patowary said: "Even people from families that have Government job holders have been given job cards.' AGP member Keshab Mahanta, CPI-M members Ananta Kalita and Uddhab Barman, CPI member Dhrupad Buragohain and BJP member Ranjit Dutta alleged massive corruption in the distribution of job cards. Brahma, however, refuted the allegations and asked the Opposition to bring discrepancies, if any, to his notice. He said that 14 districts of the State that were not covered by the NREGA till 2007-08 would be brought under the scheme from the next fiscal, thereby extending the benefits of the scheme to all districts of the State. The minister further said that of the total Rs 72,883.93 lakh available for NREGA implementation during 2007-08 (up to January 2008), Rs 34,223.44 lakh had been spent. For the year 2005-06, of the total Rs 25,147.79 lakh made available, Rs 10,519.65 lakh was spent, whereas for 2006-07, Rs 57,987.40 lakh of the available Rs 70,772.10 lakh was spent.

On February 29 when Finance Minister P. Chidambaram takes guard, his batting average is going to look almost Bradmanesque.

JOBS: Allocation for the scheme, which provides job on demand to the rural population, is Rs 16,000 crore. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the flagship programme of the UPA government, which provides job on demand to the rural population, has been extended to all the 596 rural districts in the country with effect from April 1, 2008. The allocation made for the scheme with legislative backing is Rs 16,000 crore. For 2007-08, the allocation for the scheme implemented in 330 districts was Rs 12,000 crore. The finance minister assured that as the scheme was not an Act, the government would provide financial backing for it, no matter what the amount. But, according to the Ministry of Rural Development, till December 2007, the NREGA was able to spend only 60 per cent of the funds available. At the same time, the NREGA was able to provide more than 85 crore man-days of work to more than 25 million households in 2007-08. The finance minister also said that as long as the country experienced a growth rate of more than 8.5 per cent, it could create jobs required for all segments. For Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, a programme providing self-employment to the rural poor, an allocation of Rs 2,150 crore was made, up Rs 350 crore from Rs 1,800 crore provided in Budget 2007-08. While letting the individual ministries like labour and employment carry on with their own skill development programmes, the finance minister announced establishment of a non-profit corporation with the mission of imparting world-class skills for the emerging economy. The government will provide Rs 1,000 crore, while Rs 15,000 crore will be raised from other sources. The government has alloted Rs 750 crore for the upgrade of 300 ITIs next year. It intends to upgrade 1,396 out of the 1,896 government ITIs in public-private partnership by the end of the Eleventh Plan period, which will provide quality technicians to the industry.