BENGALURU: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B Khandre said Karnataka has generated a record 2.04 crore person-days of employment under the VB-G RAM G rural employment guarantee scheme between July 1 and October 13, this year.
The minister pointed out that during the same period last year, 1.71 crore person-days were generated under MGNREGA. He said the increase this year comes amid deficient rainfall owing to the El Nino effect. Khandre stated that due to drought, more number of poor from rural, Dalits, and landless agricultural labourers will be given work. He explained that Raichur district in Kalyana Karnataka region topped the state by generating 24 lakh person-days of employment.
“Bidar and Koppal districts ranked second and third, respectively, generating 21 lakh and 18 lakh person-days respectively. Compared to last year, employment generation increased by 340% in Vijayanagara district, 257% in Kalaburagi, 207% in Koppal, 175% per cent in Ballari and 173% in Bidar,’’ he said.
He also said under the VB-G RAM G scheme, each household is eligible for 125 days of employment a year and with a daily wage of Rs 382 for both men and women, this enables each rural household to earn up to Rs 47,750 annually.
On job cards, Khandre said his department is trying to do e-KYC for the existing MNREGA job card holders.