Hyderabad: Prod to Gram Panchayats to take up more useful works under National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme

Hyderabad: The Gram Panchayats have been told to put focus on more productive works like soil enriching and green cover improving ones while finalising them for the next financial year under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

The Rural Development department has issued specific instructions to the GPs in this regard. The officials of the department said that the GPs should not confine themselves to old type of works.

The GPs have been told to include various types of works which would help the farmers in the NREG programme. They were also told to review the works which are in the shelf so that they could be made productive.

Currently the GPs have been preparing the works for the labor under the NREGS for the next financial year. The reports of the works should be finalized by the end of this year.

The Rural Development department observed that only few types of works have been finalized in the Gram Sabhas and several other works which address the issues of farm land improvement were ignored.

As per the rules of the NREGS, works have to be planned in advance for the next financial year. The works in the shelf have to be reviewed when planning is done for the next financial year.

The department officials said that only three to five types of works have been planned. However, about five to six more types of works have been suggested under the NREGS.

They include leveling the grounds, construction of roads to the farm lands, construction of soak pits for each house, cattle sheds, plantation, farm pond, and desilting of the canals.

The RD officials said that apart from these works, the GPs should also focus on the activities like digging of soil enriching trenches, digging internal trenches in the orchards, soil enriching trenches, boundary trenches, farm ponds, dug out ponds, percolation ponds, water storage ponds, surface storage ponds and cattle proof trenches.

These works have been envisioned to improve farm lands and the green cover and they have been permitted under the NREG. The GPs which have forest lands should take up these works on a large scale. The GPs have been told to take the help of engineers and technicians to identify such works in their villages and include them in the works being proposed for the next financial year.

The RD officials told the Collectors and coordinators of the NREGS works in the district to ensure that soil enriching and green cover improvement works are being planned for the next financial year.