Central schemes a hit in Ernakulam district

KOCHI: The Central Government schemes implemented in the district during 2011-12 have had the desired effect, states the project report submitted by various panchayats.The projects including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) have been major hits in the district.A review meeting was held here on Saturday in the presence of Union Minister K V Thomas. The minister said that he would submit a report to the Union Ministry seeking more financial assistance.The review report on the MGNREGS submitted by the joint programme coordinator N Vinodini stated that at least 240 per cent increase was recorded in the number of persons who participated in the 100-day self employment scheme.Also, the number of work days have been increased. Of the 8,402 projects taken up during the year, at least 6,546 were completed in various block panchayats.K V Thomas suggested the block panchayats to incorporate dairy farming in the MGNREGS from the financial year 2012-13. The progress of the projects in various grama panchayats have also been encouraging with at least 33 grama panchayats utilising Rs 1 crore each for their various projects. Last year, only 7 gramapanchayats could reach the target, the report said.Rs 157 crore will be set aside during 2012-13 for labour purposes and Rs 1.17 lakh job opportunities will be provided. This has been done on the basis that the number of people who have requested for jobs have seen an increase of 120 per cent during 2011-12, with 97,360 persons opting for the job. Of this, at least 96,675 people were given jobs. There has been an increase of 180 per cent in the wage amount given to the labourers.