By IANS
New Delhi : Impressed by successful implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in several districts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited independent professional evaluators to assess the programme and its impact, including on employment generation, gender disparity and agricultural productivity.
Manmohan Singh was reviewing the progress of the implementation of the NREG programme at a special meeting here Wednesday, an official statement said Thursday.
Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh apprised the prime minister of the successful implementation of the programme in 330 districts.
He said that so far over 21 million people had been provided employment under NREGA, including 12 million Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and eight million women.
Under the scheme, employment generation has been linked to rural asset creation and infrastructure development. The majority of the work undertaken relates to water conservation, water harvesting, flood control, irrigation and renovation of traditional water bodies, and construction of rural roads.
The review noted that as a result of introduction of NREGA there was a decline in distress migration, improvement in land productivity and increased awareness among rural poor regarding minimum wages.
The minister said that wage earnings had improved and also the participation of women in the rural work force. Wage earners were able to open savings bank accounts, take up insurance and improve literacy.
The prime minister urged state governments lagging behind in implementing the programme to learn from the experience of the states where it had been actively implemented.
He called for preparing district-wise employment reports, giving information on NREGA, to be presented on Labour Day, May 1, next year.