Bank Accounts Opened for Job Scheme Beneficiaries

[sajiv]

In Madurai No-frills zero-balance savings bank accounts have been opened for nearly half of the beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the district.

"Accounts have been opened for nearly 73,000 persons or 46.67 per cent of the total 1.57 lakh job card holders. The drive will continue till all beneficiaries are provided with a bank account," Project Officer of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Anshul Mishra told The Hindu here on Thursday.

The Centre's flagship scheme, being implemented by DRDA, provides a maximum of Rs. 80 for seven hours of manual labour.The use of machinery, contractors and middlemen is banned. If the beneficiary does not turn up on a Tuesday when salary is paid, the wages will be credited to his/her account within 24 hours.

Mr. Mishra expressed hope that 100 per cent coverage would be achieved in a month or so.Another achievement under rural job scheme is that the weekly wages have crossed the Rs. 1 crore mark.

In its 16th week, which ended on August 14, since the rural job scheme was implemented in the district, a sum of Rs. 1.04 crore was disbursed as wages. A total of 1.61 lakh man-days of work was generated in that week alone. Women continue to constitute the bulk of beneficiaries under the scheme. Of the total 29,113 persons from 23,514 households, 24,851 were women, and 4,262 men. The caste-wise break-up indicated that 7,671 were from Scheduled Castes with the remaining 21,442 from other castes.

Performing blocks
The average daily salary per person has stabilised at Rs. 65. The highest averages have been registered in the blocks of Alanganallur and Tirumangalam, with Rs. 73 and Rs. 72 respectively.

Other high performing blocks where the average salary is near Rs. 70 include Vadipatti and Tirupparankundram.
Under the scheme, Mr. Mishra said, a total of 9.93 lakh man-days of work was generated in the 16 weeks. A sum of Rs. 6.54 crore was disbursed as salaries. Sixty-four families in the district had completed 100 days of labour under the scheme, he said.A training programme in 'Pit marking' was conducted for the Makkal Nala Paniyalargal and panchayat clerks.