G'barga excels in NREGS implementation

The district has spent Rs 101 cr in the first six months of the current fiscal

As against the Rs 40 crore spent in the year 2008-09, the district has spent Rs 101 crore in the first six months of the current financial year.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Regional Commissioner Rajneesh Goel and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer V Anbukumar said that the entire state of Karnataka had spent Rs 607 crore until September this year, with Gulbarga’s share alone accounting for Rs 101 crore. The expenditure of Gulbarga is more than 15 other districts put together.

Consequently, the amount sanctioned for the district under NREGS has been revised to Rs 362 crore, which they hope to make use of even before the end of the current fiscal.
Anbukumar noted that in almost every village of the 337 gram panchayats in the district, some work has been taken up under the scheme. The works like desilting of tanks, wells,  construction of krishi ponds, cleaning of nalas have yielded rich dividends in rural areas as most of the water bodies are brimming with water with the ground water table remaining well charged.

The area under cultivation of crops has also increased with improvement in water supply. There was no demand for drilling of new bore wells in villages where ground water recharging works have been implemented effectively. “Though the norm is to spend 60 per cent on labour component and 40 per cent on material component, in Gulbarga district it is 70 and 30 per cent respectively. This shows the effectiveness of the demand driven programme,’’ Anbukumar said.

Restoration work

Goel said that NREGS is a boon for the villagers and without waiting for the funds from the centre or the state government, works were being taken up for restoration of infrastructure devastated by the unprecedented floods. This would serve the twin purpose of providing employment to the needy and also restoring the infrastructure. They have appealed to rural people to enroll their names with the gram panchayats seeking work and get benefit of he scheme under which a daily labour of Rs 85 is given.