Staff Reporter
Guwahati: In the past year, there were no elected panchayats in the state, as their earlier five-year tenures had come to an end. After the completion of the election process, the new panchayat bodies will be formed. They will have big responsibilities entrusted to them, including ensuring proper implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS).
MGNREGS envisages job generation and asset creation in rural areas. Work completion rate under MGNREGS needs to be improved in the state, as many schemes remain incomplete. Available information suggests that, in the financial year 2023-24, as many as 5,97,093 works were started under MGNREGS. As of the last part of April, a total of 5,03,416 works were completed in the state, while 93,677 works remained incomplete. The work completion rate works out to 84.71%.
In FY 2024-25, a total of 3,07,583 MGNREGS works were initiated. Of this, 1,21,315 works were completed, and 1,86,268 works are yet to be completed, with a work completion rate of 39.44%.
In the absence of elected panchayats, government officials looked after the work of the panchayats under their jurisdiction. Now that elected panchayats are in the offing, their primary job will be monitoring the implementation of different schemes, including MGNREGS.
The last panchayat election in the state was conducted in December 2018.
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