US heaps praise on India's NREGA

The Obama Administration, which is keenly awaiting a briefing on the UPA government's flagship scheme from Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, said there are lessons that are transferable to other countries at low and middle income levels. Kharge will give an overview of NREGA at the first ever meet of G-20 labour ministers here convened at the instance of President Barack Obama. The meeting is beginning later today.

Top officials from the US Department of Labour, organisers of the event, said the innovative 100-day rural employment guarantee scheme has been successful beyond the expectations of almost every one. "India has learnt and has refined the strategy. So there is a great deal of anticipation to hear from Minister Kharge about these policies, how they have worked, and there are lessons that are transferable to other countries at low and middle income levels," Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs Sandra Polaski told foreign journalists.

"The employment minister from India, who is attending the conference, has been asked to speak about that as one of the key innovations that India has made, a policy which has been challenging to implement but at the end of the day very successful. I think successful beyond the expectations of almost everyone," Polaski told reporters. Labour and employment ministers from top 20 economies of the world are scheduled to attend the conference.

Recommendations of the conference would be submitted to the next G-20 Summit meeting in Toronto later this year. "This meeting, as you know, comes at a time of tremendous challenge for workers in the G-20 countries. The prompt actions of many of our governments last year prevented a true global depression. The ILO, estimates that 20 million jobs were saved or created by collective stimulus plans and our social safety nets in 2009 and 2010," US Labour Secretary Hilda Solis said. The unemployment rates were still high, unacceptable in the US and across the globe, she said, adding there was the need for creating more jobs.