MGNREGA: State creates record 84% mandays for fiscal 2021-22 in 6 mnths
Kolkata: In another success in providing employments to people during the second wave of Covid pandemic, the Bengal government has created 18.67 crore mandays under MGNREGA scheme which is 84 per cent of the total 22 crore mandays allotted by the Centre so far for 2021-22 financial year.
Following the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state Panchayats and Rural Development department took up a series of steps to ensure proper implementation of the scheme to help the rural populace get jobs. Even convergence of the scheme has been done with many other projects to ensure better infrastructure development in the rural parts of the state.
The Centre so far allocated 22 crore mandays for Bengal. Out of the 22 crore mandays, the state government has already provided jobs to 18.67 crore people residing in the rural parts of the state with an average wage rate of Rs 199.42 per day per person.
The success came despite April to July being usually considered as a lean period in terms of creation of mandays under MGNREGA with most of it usually takes place every year in the month of January, February and March. But this time there was creation of 18.67 crore mandays at this lean period only as the people in the rural parts of the state was in need of job during the second wave of the Covid pandemic. Moreover, the state government gave all efforts to help them get jobs under the scheme.
Most interestingly, women's days out of the total stand at 45.87 per cent so far. Around 26.25 per cent and 8.19 percent man days were created by providing jobs to people from SC and ST communities respectively.
In the 2020-21 financial year, 1.1 crore people were provided with jobs under the scheme and it led to creation of 36 crore mandays. At the same time, the state government's necessary steps helped 3.80 lakh migrant workers get new job cards and around 6.46 lakh migrant labourers were provided with jobs. In Bengal, "total individuals worked" were 79.69 lakh, 74.42 lakh and 81.01 lakh in 2019-20, 2018-19 and 2017-18 fiscals respectively. In the first five months of the current year, 82.31 lakh individuals were provided with jobs so far.
In the last fiscal year too the initial allocation was around 22 crore persondays and it was later increased. According to the sources, the Centre would increase the same this time as well.
