Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Friday urged Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Giriraj Singh to release Rs.2,696.77 crore funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ( MGNREGS) to the State.
In a Demi Official letter to Mr Giriraj Singh, copies of which were released to the media here, he also urged him to release further, additional funds to the unskilled workers regularly and sought his personal intervention in this regard.
Mr Stalin said MGNREGS was one of the important schemes for providing employment opportunity to all registered households in the rural areas and is the only scheme providing livelihood opportunity to rural people as well as create durable and sustainable rural assets to improve the Village infrastructure and fulfills the demand of rural people to a great level.
Pointing out that Tamil Nadu has always been a top performing State in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS under various parameters, he said 92.86 lakh households in the State have been issued with job cards.
Out of that, nearly 91.52 Lakh workers pertaining to 76.15 lakh households are actively participating in the MGNREGS works regularly, he added. He said as agriculture in Tamil Nadu is heavily dependent on rains from Southwest Monsoon and cyclonic rains from Northeast Monsoon, vagary in any one of the above monsoons lead to higher demand for MGNREGS works.
He reiterated that MGNREGS is considered as an important livelihood opportunity in rural areas for many like elderly people, destitute women, women headed households, differently abled workers and additional livelihood opportunity for many in rural households, especially during lean agricultural season.
“In particular, women empowerment has been realized by the MGNREGS as majority workforce is women and credit of wages to their bank account has greatly improved their finances”, he noted.
