Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

The GOI has notified the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA)Act 2005 in September 2005. The Act is being implemented in the U.T of Puducherry with effect from 01-04-2008. DRDA has been assigned with the task of implementation of NREGA in this U.T.Puducherry

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) aims at enhancing the livelihood security of the households in rural areas by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The objective of the Act is to create durable assets and strengthen the livelihood resource base of the rural poor.

• The Gram Panchayat, after due verification, will issue a Job Card to the household as a whole. The Job Card will bear the photograph of all adult members of the household willing to work under NREGA. The Job Card with photograph is free of cost.
• Employment will be given within 15 days of submitting the application for work or from the date when work is sought by an employment seeker.
• At least one-third of persons to whom work is allotted have to be women.
• Wages are to be paid according to minimum wages as prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act 1948 for agricultural labourers in the State, unless the Center notifies a Minimum Wage rate which in any case shall not be less than Rs.60 per day.
• Disbursement of wages has to be borne on the weekly basis and not beyond a fortnight
• Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) have a principal role in planning and implementation.
• Each district has to prepare a shelf of projects. The instruments for providing employment are to be works selected from the list of permissible works. Permissible works are as follows:

Water conservation and Water Harvesting

Drought proofing, including afforestation and tree plantations

Irrigation canals, including micro and minor irrigation works

provision of irrigation facility to land owned by households belonging to the SC/ST, or to land of the beneficiaries of land reforms, or to land of the beneficiaries under IAY

Construction of Rural Haat , Construction of PLF buildings. Construction of Goat shelters, Construction of Fish drying yards , Formation of roads

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