By IANS
New Delhi : Against the backdrop of rising prices and calls for greater transparency, the government will review its social welfare programmes, including the pioneering National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, at a two-day meeting starting Friday.
Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi will chair the meeting of the performance review committee that will focus on issues of delivery, budget, transparency, capacity building and complaint redressal mechanisms related to these programmes.
The panel will review flagship programmes, including the rural jobs scheme and the Indira Awas Yojana, relating to housing, Friday.
Other programmes on the creation of jobs, road building and to help those below the poverty line, including Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, the preparations for BPL Census, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme would be taken up for review Saturday, the rural development ministry said here in a statement.
The rural jobs scheme, widely hailed as one of the more successful social welfare projects, will come under closer scrutiny.
It has generated employment for 52.5 million rural households. The average number of days of employment in the year per household in the year has gone up to 54 days, said the ministry.
The panel will undertake a national review for the 2009-10 fiscal and pursue detailed analysis of state-wise performance on key physical and financial parameters, including unemployment allowances, delayed payments, disbursement of wages and the status of complaints received from the rural poor.