SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur has surpassed other districts in Odisha in creating work opportunities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) this month.
Sambalpur has provided employment to 50,839 persons on October 1 against a target of 49,194 at 103 per cent achievement. In the next four days, the district engaged 48,806, 48,743, 49,008 and 48,090 persons, respectively, district coordinator Sohit Bishi said.
“Due to the pandemic, movement of people has reduced considerably. Also, this is not the time for harvesting crops. So labour requirement for farming activities is low. Consequently, most workers are turning to MGNREGS for work,” he said.
Different works including plantation, land development, fodder cultivation, development of trenches for water conservation, roadside drainage and nutri-gardens are being carried out under the scheme in the district. This apart, renovation of water bodies and canal renovation work were also carried out before the onset of monsoon. Bishi said village-level meetings were organised to draw people to work in various projects. Door-to-door campaign was also conducted.
“A target has been set to create 29,81,900 man-days during the 2020-21 fiscal year. The district has already created 22,00,361 man-days till October 5,” he said.