Sikkim to take up plantation on open land from NREGA fund

The Sikkim government has decided to take up tree plantation on all available land under the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme in this financial year in order to sustain the livelihood of the rural people, an official release said today.

The plantation of saplings would include of variou fruits like the orange, apple, litchi, guava, kiwi and fodder trees like nibaro, gogun, taanki and kabra, apart from the fast growing timber trees, the release said.

The ulitilization of NREGA funds will not not only generate employment as outlined under the act, but also enhance the rural households' income in the long term due to the plantation of various trees, it said.

The release highlighted the state government's commitment to generate the 100 days employment under the national flagship programme to improve the purchasing capacity of the local people and also to stimulate the local economy.

The state government has claimed that it has provided jobs to 52,000 households and made a wage payment of Rs 25 crore under the NREG scheme in the last financial year.

It has been due to the state government's sincere implementation of NREG scheme that the Centre has hiked by 83 per cent the allocation of funds for Sikkim at Rs 75 crore in the financial year 2009-10.