Rural job scheme: Good performers to get more funds

The rural development ministry plans to give more funds to states which perform well under the national rural employment guarantee programme, according to Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.

"Based on a review, the programme will be extended to another 150 districts in the second phase. This is a programme in phases. Efforts are on to cover the entire country in five years," Singh said.

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Nagaland are the only states which have provided job cards to all applicants. In Bihar, only 50 per cent applicants have got the cards. He expressed happiness over performance of some states but raised concerns about others like Bihar, where his rival Nitish Kumar is the chief minister.

According to the progress chart of the ministry, 2.6 lakh works have been carried out at an expenditure of Rs 2,275 crore. In the 200 districts where the programme has been launched in the first phase, 1.05 crore out of 1.09 crore applicants have been given jobs.

"This is more than the expected one crore applicants. We expect to provide jobs to 1.25 crore people," Singh said.

He said strict monitoring of muster rolls should be carried as social auditing and strict vigilance would improve performance.

The ministry has asked states to give priority to water conservation measures under the programme.