Dug well projects run into technical hurdle
ROURKELA: The Sundargarh district administration has sanctioned financial provision to install about 19,000 dug wells and ring wells as one of the key traditional drought-proofing initiatives under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But of late, technical hurdles in direct transfer of fund to beneficiaries are delaying the projects and enhancing work burden at the Gram Panchayat (GP) level.
Sources said as beneficiary-centric approach, the district administration aims to construct the dug wells and ring wells using the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) route and eliminate supply of materials. Under the present circumstance, if a beneficiary wants direct transfer of fund to his bank account to procure construction materials, authorities at the GP level would have to generate Fund Transfer Order (FTO) of less than `5,000 for transfer through Electronic Fund Transfer Management (EFTM).
Each unit with a depth of 20 feet to 30 feet costs between `1.4 lakh and `1.6 lakh depending on soil condition and labour cost. While the dug well with internal stone casing has diameter of 12 feet to 18 feet, it is six to eight feet in diameter with internal concrete casing for ring well.
Under the MGNREGS guidelines, the labour component goes directly to the account of workers while the material component amounting to `70,000 is paid to the registered vendors having Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). Since the beneficiary does not have any TIN registration, only less than `5,000 can be transferred to the account of beneficiaries at a time for material purchase.
In order to pay `70,000 for materials to a beneficiary, the authorised signatories, Sarpanch and Panchayat Extension Officer (PEO), would have to generate 14 FTOs. This cumbersome process is a stumbling block to eliminate material vendors and motivate beneficiaries.
District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) sources said financial sanctions have been given for 19,000 dug wells and ring wells of which 4,402 have been completed with parapet works remaining to be done.
They said due to fund transfer limit to beneficiaries for material purchase, these projects are getting delayed. If the fund for the projects could be divided in three equal instalments on the lines of rural housing schemes, it would accelerate the execution work.