Goa’s Congress minister questions NREG Scheme

PANAJI - Goa’s Rural Development Agency (RDA) Minister Churchill Alemao Wednesday questioned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme, saying that “it was not possible to pay money to those who do not work”.

Replying to a query from the opposition benches on mismanagement of the NREG Scheme, Alemao said: “People cannot sit and get money. If this happens, lots of people will come. They have to do the job. They are not doing the job. If they do not work, why should we pay money?”

Responding to Alemao’s statement, Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said: “You have got a lot of votes because of the act. You go and read the law. If you cannot give a person work in 30 days, you have to pay him money. You cannot say like this.”

To this, Alemao continued to insist that his ministry would not release money to any person who does not work.

Speaker Pratapsing Rane intervened at this juncture and offered to slot a special half an hour discussion on the NREG Scheme in the house, if the minister did not know the nitty-gritty of the scheme.

The NREGS, a pioneering job guarantee scheme introduced in 2005, is one of the most popular schemes of the central government introduced by the UPA.

The scheme provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to carry out public work, unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage of Rs.100 per day, failing which the unemployed person would be legally entitled to an unemployment allowance.

–Indo Asian News Service