OREANDA-NEWS. February 04, 2015. The Ministry of Rural Development has decided to focus intensely on convergence of MGNREGA with other Schemes to create durable and useful assets. It has introduced a new module to capture planning and implementation of convergence initiatives. 21 States have prepared their Convergence Plans already. Convergence has been closely linked to measuring outcomes of works and their impact on the rural economy. This was stated by Minister of Rural Development, Shri Birender Singh, while addressing the tenth MGNREGA Divas celebrations here today. He said that the objective is to use MGNREGA for livelihood based sustainable development.

The Minister of Rural Development emphasized that MGNREGA has provided employment to crores of households every year and has become an important vehicle for enhancing the livelihoods of rural poor and strengthening the rural natural resource base. Over the last year, the Ministry has streamlined the Scheme to make it more relevant to the local needs and demands of the beneficiaries with greater focus on backward areas. The ministry also purposes to undertake skilling and entrepreneurship of MGNREGA workers and their family members in convergence with NRLM, he added

The Rural Development Minister also stressed on the recent initiatives taken by the Ministry to address issues around transparency and accountability in MGNREGA. For instance, some forward looking IT based initiatives like universalization of eFMS, notification of MGNREGA under DBT and mobile monitoring systems to have been introduced. The Social Audit systems have also been strengthened.

 The Minister said that MGNREGA is also supporting the other flagship programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission through the construction of toilets. As a part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), to achieve the goal of a clean India by 2019,  MGNREGA has been aligned with this initiative whereby nearly 2 Crore IHHLs will be constructed during the next five years. States have also been requested to bring the existing MGNREGA workers with bank accounts under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana and to open bank accounts for new workers under this Yojana.

Shri Birender Singh expressed the  hope that the current initiatives will address some of the concerns around MGNREGA in a definite manner and contribute significantly to the more efficient implementation of the Scheme.

On the occasion, MGNREGA documents- Report to the People and Report on Capacity Building were also released. The Ministry also showcased some of the achievements through a compilation of photos-Towards Creating Sustainable Assets under MGNREGA. Madhya Pradesh has been awarded for its outstanding work in the area of convergence of Schemes with MGNREGA and supporting livelihoods

Three States, 11 districts, 15 Postal Department officers and 9 Sarpanches were recognized and awarded for demonstrating excellence and undertaking specific initiatives to ensure effective implementation of MGNREGA. These awards will encourage and motivate other ground level functionaries as well to further improve implementation of the Scheme.

The tenth MGNREGA Divas celebrations organized by  the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India were attended by Minister of Rural Development Shri Birender Singh, Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Ram Kirpal Yadav, Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, SHri Nihal Chand, State Rural Development Ministers, Senior State Government officials, Secretary Rural Development Shri L.C. Goyal and officials of the Ministry of Rural Development, eminent professionals, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, MGNREGA workers, District Collectors and District Programme Coordinators and members of their team.