New Delhi, December 18: Parliament today approved a bill for naming UPA government’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme after Mahatma Gandhi.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme launched in 2005 has emerged as one of the largest social safety nets providing jobs to 4.51 crore rural households.
The programme, considered to have helped the UPA return to power at the Centre, ensures 100-day job guarantee to one member of each family on demand.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2009, seeking to name the job scheme after Father of the Nation, was passed by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote. The bill was approved by the Lok Sabha yesterday without discussion.
While concerns on accountability and transparency were raised by members, Minister for Rural Development C P Joshi said, “We want to assure people of India we will implement this Act according to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi”.
However, he sought to pass the buck to the states for implementation of the scheme saying the grievance redressal has to be done by them.
He said corruption charges have been blown out of proportion. In a programme of Rs 40,000 crore, the complaints about leakages relate to only Rs 7.3 crore.
Joshi and CPI-M member Brinda Karat who had earlier clashed in the House, today again came close to it with Karat asking “I don’t know why the minister is being confrontationist … Is this the way you carry a discussion”.
But the minister disagreed saying, “I am confronting”. They got into an arugment over payment under the scheme in Left-ruled Kerala.
–PTI