The Ministry of Rural Development is all set to draw a roadmap of convergence of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with other schemes and provide a learning platform to enable replication of successful livelihood models in other States.
The day long national workshop on convergence of MGNREGA with other Schemes to be held here will discuss successful sustainable livelihood models identified in various States which are worth replication elsewhere.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh will inaugurate the workshop and lead the proceedings along with S Vijay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and S M Vijayanand, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development.
Representatives of various partner Ministries and Departments, State teams from Rural Development Departments and selected District Programme Coordinators will attend the workshop.
MGNREGA aims at strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural poor. This can be facilitated through convergence of MGNREGA works with resources of other programmes or schemes available with Panchayats and other line departments.
These resources are not restricted to availability of funds but include technical expertise and knowhow that officials of the line departments may be endowed with. Convergence of MGNREGA with other schemes relating to agriculture, forests, water resources, land resources, rural roads, anganwadi centers, drinking water and sanitation are being encouraged to increase the productivity of such assets and resources under MGNREGA, which will help rural families to enhance the quality of their life with better livelihood methods.
Providing micro irrigation using funds available under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for horticulture plantation done under MGNREGA, supply of fingerlings by Fisheries department for a dugout pond created under MGNREGA are instances of converging the provisions of different schemes to develop sustainability in livelihood methods. Such initiatives which have made a positive mark in common man's life are brought to highlight through this workshop.
In a session having keen focus on Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, states like Bihar, UP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Tamil Nadu will share their experience on how they made convergence between MGNREGA with Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan successful. Challenges they faced and the way they countered the challenges while rolling out convergence projects in their districts will also be discussed.
Another session is dedicated to discuss the successful convergence models that have come up in all the States under MGNREGA. The methodology adopted for creating a successful model and challenges thereof will be pooled for replication. Further to the workshop, the Ministry will pick up the best models and draw up a roadmap for replication by various states.
