The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Thursday demanded the state government to come up with SOPs to ensure funds for material components for implementation of the MGNREGS within a period of six months.
In a memorandum to the C&RD Minister AT Mondal, HYC president Robert Kharjahrin said, “We would like to suggest that the State Government should come out with modalities or SOPs that the funds for material components must be released within a period of not more than 6 months and failure to do so the Department concern has to pay with interest to the VECs concerned.”
The HYC also requested the minister to take steps to release all the pending funds to all the VECs who has not received the funds for more than six months.
The HYC has also suggested for convergence of MLA scheme with MGNREGS in order to bring a meaningful development in the rural areas of the state.
“We suggest that the Government should come up with a policy/legislation that not less than 50% of the fund from MLA Scheme should be implemented by way of convergence with MGNREGS,” HYC General Secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said.
He said,“this will ensure of not just 100 days guaranteed work to job card holders but it will increase upto 110 days or more guaranteed workdays and also bring more meaningful development to the villages and town.”
He said that the Council has also emphasized the need for setting up the Meghalaya Community Rural Development Services and Meghalaya Community Rural Engineering Services. In fact, the State Government had already approved a proposal for the same in 2018.
“However, till date we have not seen that the Government has taken serious steps in framing and enacting the Rules. Hence we urged upon you to take immediate steps to legislate the above mentioned Rules and if the Government has already legislated, it is necessary that the Government should implement the same at the earliest,” the HYC leader said.
Synrem said said with this decision, the C&RD department will have their own service and staff cadres right from the level of gram sevak, junior engineers, Assistant Engineers and BDOs.
As on date, officers working at any level in the department be it junior engineers, Assistant Engineers and BDOs were taken by the Department on deputation from other departments.
With these service rules the Department would have Engineers till the level of Superintending Engineer. The Rules will also create more employment opportunities for the youths of the State and more over it will enable the department to implement the scheme quicker which in turn will benefit the citizen of the state, he added.