NREGA weapon to banish poverty: CM

NT Correspondent

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(NREGA) scheme is a weapon that will play an important role in eradication of poverty, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai after inaugurating the NREGA Habba, a festival to celebrate a year’s labour.

The habba was organised by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department. Reminding those present of Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Grama Swaraj and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ideal of Gram Suraj, Bommai said villages should see all aspects of development. Administration will not succeed if power is not decentralised. Decentralisation of power should be like honey which flows from Vidhana Soudha directly to the beneficiary. ‘’Political decentralisation has happened, administrative decentralisation too has become a reality to some extent, but we need financial autonomy,’’ the CM stressed.

He said Karnataka has done well compared to other states in decentralisation of power. ‘’We have implemented our own Panchayat Raj system after the 73rd amendment of the Constitution,’’ he said. He appreciated the Rural Development department for instituting awards for those who show commendable performance in implementing the NREGA programme.

Bommai also advocated the need to extend the scope of the NREGA programme. ‘’I have provided Rs.50 crore in the recent budget to take up construction of 1000 Anganvadis. A demand to include repair and construction of schools under NREGA has been submitted to the Union government. The proposal, if approved will enable the government to take up repair and construction of classrooms in a big way,’’ he said and expressed confidence that there will be a positive response from the Union government.

The CM also stressed the need to celebrate NREGA Habba in every village and said this will enthuse every Gram Panchayat to work more vigorously.