New, simplified guidelines for the rural job guarantee scheme will be issued soon. The focus, after consultation with States, will be on ensuring jobs in Naxal-infested areas, skill development and flexibility.

The Union Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, told this to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) attached to his Ministry on Thursday.

Following complaints from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on wages not being paid in some areas, Mr Ramesh admitted, in an official release, that delay in payment of wages to workers was the biggest problem facing the scheme.

Audit mechanism

The Minister said steps were being taken to strengthen the audit mechanism, effective deployment of dedicated staff, more coverage of banks and post offices and the lab-to-land initiative.

Members, cutting across political lines, were concerned over the audit mechanism and called for effective Central monitoring of the scheme.

To address the problem of wage disbursal, members from hilly and Naxal-affected areas underlined the need for mobile banking system, the release said.

Some members also raised the issue of fake job cards and muster rolls, less mandays of work allocated than the mandatory 100 days work and enhancement of minimum wages to the workers.

Later, Mr B. K Sinha, Secretary, Rural Development, said the second phase of MGNREGA could usher in the Second Green Revolution as land improvement would be a new component in the scheme. This will help the small and marginal farmers to augment their income, he said.

Members, cutting across political lines, were concerned over the audit mechanism and called for effective Central monitoring of the scheme.

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