NREGS wages paid through PO savings accounts

16 lakh NREGS accounts already opened

Current target: 1 crore. Final target: 2 crore

JAIPUR: The village post offices, slowly losing ground to the highly competitive private enterprises both in savings accounts and delivery of letters, are busy once again thanks to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The scheme, launched last April in all the districts of the country, has a provision for payment of NREGS wages through the post office savings accounts.

"Only 25 per cent of the NREGS funds have actually reached beneficiaries'

"Rs.2,100 crore apparently siphoned off by the executing authorities'

"Loot, plunder and pillage of the NREGS funds has been truly participatory'

Bangalore, DHNS: Now, NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) beneficiaries can take up works in their private land too... Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department has taken the decision to allow works related to rain water harvesting and afforestation under the scheme in private land. Since the introduction of the scheme (Feb 2005), works were allowed only in the government land.

Kurnool, July 16: The District Water Management Agency (Dwma) project director, Mr Wilson Babu, issued orders on Wednesday suspending 43 employees for irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). He also removed 70 masons. Mr Wilson Babu inspected the NREGS office in Atmakur and found that there was variance in records amounting to about Rs 7 lakh. He suspended an assistant project officer (APO), seven technical and 14 field assistants as they failed to give proper explanation relating to the variance.

DH News Service, Mulbagal: Elected representatives and state machinery should give widespread publicity to development works formulated by the government, opined local MLA Amaresh. He was speaking after inaugurating Bharat Nirman programme at Tayalur in the taluk on Monday. He disclosed that as many as 100 villages in the taluk had been brought under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREG), Natonal Rural Health Mission, Sarvashikha Abhiyan and Prime Minister's 15-point programme. The MLA called upon the public to take advantage of all the development programmes.

Activists of five farmers unions and rural workers staged a dharna in front of the deputy commissioner's office here today. They were demanding redressing of their complaints and starting projects for the rural poor under the NREGA in the district.

Deputy Speaker of the Assam Assembly, Pranati Phukan yesterday took stock of the erosion by Dehing river at Jagun village near Naharkatia and announced commencement of anti-erosion works in the affected area. To initiate the anti-erosion project work, Phukan released Rs five lakhs. She also announced that NABARD would step in with Rs 66 lakhs project to check the continuing erosion in the area in the current financial year.

As the neoliberal edifice crumbles in the face of rising prices, a rationing regime becomes the only way of protecting the poor from their impact. Murli Deora, Petroleum Minister, and P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister, at a function in New Delhi.

At a time when the condition of tea industry in Assam started improving after going through a slump for years, wrong policies of the Government may seriously affect the industry during the peak plucking season.

Rs 80 then, Rs 45 now, complain villagers Dindigul VILLAGERS who are the beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are complaining that the wages paid to them have been gradually reduced, much to their disappointment. On Friday last, about 3,000 workers, led by Balabarathi, MLA, resorted to picketing in Dindigul. On Monday, the villagers of Chettinayakkanpatti came to the collectorate in large numbers to submit a petition against the low wages being paid to them under the programme.