CH. Birender singh Minister of Rural Development
1.The ministry has managed to touch the lives of rural people from various angles in a positive manner. MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) was given top priority and it generated the highest-ever person days in the past one year. Last year saw
the highest-ever expenditure in MGNREGS with an allocation of Rs 43,068 crore. Gram Panchayats will be given Rs 200,292 crore over five years. This is a substantive outlay, which will open up
great opportunities for Gram Panchayats to engage more meaningfully in local development issues. Coverage of rural drinking water supply in terms of habitation has increased at a faster rate compared to the preceding two years.
2. We want to further the confidence of MGNREGS workers, and the top priority will be given to finetune the scheme.
It will be given a new dimension and our focus will be in creating new assets. We will be increasing the ambit of the scheme, where more types of work will be included. Skill development will be linked to the scheme. It will be a tool to transform rural India. Also, 4,220 Barefoot Technicians (BFT) will emerge from MGNREGS workers in the first phase. That every family has a shelter by 2022 is high on the agenda of the ministry.
3. There have been no failures, but the ministry would like to give more thrust to decentralisation and rural sanitation. There will be more focus on rural spending.
4. Many schemes were in a shambles when this government came to power in 2014. We have succeeded in putting everything back on track again. That is a great achievement.