Diversion of MGNREGS funds opposed in Anantapur

Anantapur: NREGS workers have opposed Rural Development Ministry's decision to transfer Rs 10 crores from MGNREGA funds to each Assembly constituency for construction of buildings.

In a press statement, NREGS Act campaigners Narinder Bedi, Manisha K and Ganesh Iyer pointed out that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's decision to use MGNREGA funds to take up building construction is anti-poor.

Construction of Balwadis, Panchayat buildings, GP secretariats and cc roads are not allowed under MGNREGA. The funds can only be spent when job card holders demand work not as individuals, but as members of an SSS Group. Each SSS group can have 10 to 20 job card holders. CC road work, construction of buildings cannot create mass employment for unskilled workers, they said.