By IANS,
New Delhi: Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi Thursday said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme did not face any problem of funding and the government was willing to increase its outlay to Rs.50,000 crore or even higher, if necessary.
Replying to the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the demand for grants for fiscal 2010-11 for his ministry, Joshi said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has assured that if necessary, the Rs.40,000 crore funds would be enhanced to Rs.50,000 crore or even Rs.60,000 crore.
“The NREGS does not face any problem of funding,” the minister said.
The Lok Sabha passed the demands for grants after the cut motion from Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetty was negated by the voice vote.
Joshi strongly defended the government policies for uplift of rural India and schemes like MGNREGS, Indira Awas Yojana and integrated water management.
Admitting that there were certain irregularities like the delay in payments, the minister said these limitations could be eradicated only by joint efforts of the government and the MPs.
The government is aware that a large section of poor and downtrodden people’s names do not figure in the list of below poverty line (BPL) category and, therefore, his ministry is trying to work on a new formula for it, he said.
Joshi also charged states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with faulty implementation of various rural development schemes.
He said the UPA government is committed to ensure the IT-enabled services reach rural areas to fulfill the dreams of former prime minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi.