71 NREGA failure in Punjab: Sidhu

Govt should own up responsibility of

Punjab Newsline Network

Tuesday, 01 December 2009

JALAMDHAR: Admitting failure to ensure jobs for unemployed rural poor during the past two years, MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said the SAD-BJP government should own up the responsibility for the improper implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (NREGA) in Punjab.

Revealing the state’s position in this context on Tuesday, Navjot Singh Sidhu, an MP from Amritsar and a member of the Rural Development Standing Committee, said Punjab had been demanding quite lesser funds as compared to its neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and other southern states of the country.

He said Punjab, claiming to have 3.44 lakh families falling below poverty line (BPL), demanded Rs 53.97 crore till date while the amount sought last year was Rs 67.75 crore.

He said states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhatisgarh sought much more funds under this Centre-sponsored scheme in the past two years and carried out tremendous development works in their rural areas.

Sidhu accompanied by Jalandhar Mayor Rakesh Rathour, said he would again submit his finding on NREGA implementation in the state to the Union Rural Development Ministry and the Punjab Chief Secretary.