Imphal, November 27 2010: Rural Housing and NREGS came up for discussion in the morning session on the final day of the three day Bharat Nirman Campaign, organized by PIB Imphal in collaboration with sister organizations at Bishnunaha Community hall Yairipok in Thoubal District.

The speaker was Kh.

Muhindro Project Officer DRDA Thoubal.

He said, NREGS came into Thoubal on April 1, 2008.Out of 55,528 applicants 54000 had been given job cards.

Funds for giving wages to the engaged workers are given on installment basis.

Fund flow is not regular.

This could be attributed to the fact the Panchayat bodies do not inculcate the habit of proper documentation of the works done and the number of persons engaged.

He admitted that there are complaints of workers not getting 100 days' work, which is being looked into, NREGS programmes focus on water conservation, water harvesting, aforestation and tree plantation.

NREGS cannot be used in the construction of community halls, he said.

The other areas where NREGS can intrude are flood protection and land development.

He appealed to gathering to participate in the gram sabha meetings and play active role in deciding the areas where the NREGS should focus.

An NREGS worker should work within five Kms radius of his residence.

He said preference is given to fair sex in the selection of NREGS job card holders.

A job card has the validity for five years and each card holder is being covered by insurance.

A vigilance and monitoring committee supervises the works done by the job card holders and reports are sent to the higher authority.

Speaking about Rural Housing he said, a beneficiary will get Rs 45,000 for construction of a house and Rs 15,000 for repairing.

A beneficiary will also get low cost latrine and free electricity connection under different schemes.

The list of beneficiaries is framed by Gram Sabha.

A permanent wait list is framed and the same is displayed at the offices of Panchayat bodies and important public places.

This is being done to show transparency in the selection of beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries should belong to below poverty line.

It happens benefits are grabbed by the well to do families.

It is for the Panchayat bodies to detect.

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