By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian government has asked the states to merge by the end of the month a six-year-old village job scheme in those districts where the flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme is being implemented.
In a letter, the rural development ministry that is guiding the programme said the funds allocated for the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) should be immediately transferred to the account created for NREGA works, an official statement said Monday.
The ministry has also directed the states to make a precise assessment of the status of SGRY works started before March 31 of the current year and to compile details of such works.
Each district will have to certify the incomplete SGRY works that can be continued under the NREGA. Those works not permissible under NREGA can be funded by the states from other resources, including government programmes.
The SGRY was launched in September 2001 by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government to provide jobs in rural areas.
The ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government introduced NREGA in 2005 to remove loopholes in the implementation of the previous scheme and to guarantee 100 days of employment to individuals in rural areas.