177 lakh mandays generated under MGNREGA: Minister

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 4

Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma said 177.07 lakh mandays had been generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) against a target of 258.29 lakh during the last fiscal.

Presiding over a review meeting of the State Employment Guarantee Council here today, Sharma said during this period, 4.67 lakh families had demanded employment out of which 4.23 lakh were given employment.

He said out of total 177.07 lakh mandays, women alone earned 111.81 lakh mandays, which was 63.14 per cent, the highest in the country. He said 1,16,389 works were approved under MGNREGA last year, out of which 44,512 works had been completed and remaining 71,877 were in progress.

He said Rs 391.51 crore had been spent under the scheme as against the allotted Rs 397.18 crore which was 98.57 per cent. He said Rs 287.95 crore were spent on labour component which was 77 per cent of the total budget and the average was the best in the country.

The minister said there were 9,11,559 active MGNREGA labourers in the state and 8,76,800 had been linked with Aadhaar. Similarly, 75 per cent Aadhaars had been linked with bank accounts.