The Government of Tripura is set to utilize the MNREGA for distilling and dewatering for the reclamation of lands after the recent catastrophic flood in the State.
“A detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for emergency dewatering and related activities has been prepared following the guidelines of MGNREGA”, said Secretary of the Rural Development Department Sandeep R. Rathod on Thursday.
As the flood water inundated vast crop fields in almost all the districts in the State, quick reclamation of lands has become one of the priorities of the Government. At the same time, flood destroyed livelihood options affecting the economy, especially rural economy. Many understand that MNREGA would be an ideal tool for the reclamation of land as well as create earning opportunities for the rural people.
The Secretary while addressing a press meeting in Agartala on Thursday further added, MGNREGA continues to play a vital role in providing employment in rural areas and creating durable assets. For the current financial year (2024-25), the approved labor budget aims to create a total of 300 lakh person-days of work.
So far, 155.25 lakh person-days of work have been completed. A total of 1.84 lakh works have commenced under MGNREGA this financial year, with 0.99 lakh completed, while 0.85 lakh are still ongoing. These efforts are focused on improving infrastructure and asset creation in rural areas, Rathod said.
In this connection, the RD Secretary also highlighted labour budget allocation related information. He said, a total labor budget of Rs 12,859 crore has been allocated for the MGNREGA scheme for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Out of this, Rs 766.24 crore has already been provided by the central government. Moreover, the state government has contributed Rs 4,338 crore as its share.
Talking about the impact of recent flood, the RD Secretary said, floods in rural areas of the state have caused extensive damage to approximately 50,000 houses and 6,000 permanent assets. According to initial estimates, the total damage is around Rs 2006 crore. The damage assessment has already been submitted to the government, he said.
He informed media that the concerned BDOs, RD and RD (Panchayat) department officials, GRCs, and RPMs have shown extraordinary determination and a positive attitude in tackling the floods.
The Secretary of the Rural Development Department said a request has been made to the central government for an additional allocation of approximately 50,000 houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural). The state government has also announced a grant of Rs 40 crore for the work of the Rural Development Department.
Rathod informed the media, nder the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), approval has been received for 3,76,780 houses so far, out of which 3,59,563 houses have been completed, amounting to 95.4% of the approved houses. In terms of the implementation of this project, Tripura has been awarded as the best-performing state among northeastern and other hilly states.
The secretary also presented status report of other central Government schemes liket. he Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM).
He informed the media that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on August 28, 2024, between the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) and the Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission (TRLM) to support the marketing of products produced by self-help groups.
(Tripura, Tripura News)
