Centre praises Orissa's utilisation of NREG fund.

Though AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi during his four-day visit to Orissa criticised the State Government for not effectively implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the State, Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Thursday appreciated the Orissa Government's utilisation of funds under the NREGS.During his meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at New Delhi, Raghuvansh Prasad praised the Management Information System (MIS) and pace of utilisation of funds under the NREGS in the State. He also assured the Orissa Government that with NREGS being the demand driven scheme, funds as per requirement of the districts shall be made available to the State.Patnaik demanded a corpus of Rs. 200 crore to the State to tide over the cash crunch faced by various districts in implementation of the NREGS.Patnaik also pointed out that whereas Rs. 762 crore was allotted to Orissa in 2007 when only 19 districts were covered under the NREGS, in 2008 only Rs 506 crore had been allotted till date when 24 districts of the State were covered under the scheme.Patnaik also mentioned that the allocation of funds by the Union Government under the scheme was highly inadequate to meet the employment demand of the job seekers of the State. He further demanded extension of the scheme to all the remaining districts.Prasad also mentioned that there would not be any shortage of funds to the districts and the scheme would be extended to all 30 districts from April 1, 2008. Patnaik reiterated that funds should be made available immediately as the financial year was coming to a close and there was a problem of unemployment in the rural areas.The Chief Minister also demanded that the Government of India should accept the suggestion of the State Government to fix the number of rural BPL households of the State at 44 lakh. The Union Minister indicated that the matter needs to be resolved in consultation with the Planning Commission.Patnaik also urged the Union Minister to allow the State Government to continue with the selection of beneficiaries under various anti-poverty and rural development programmes including Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and Sampurna Gramina Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) on the basis of the prevailing BPL list till the new BPL list was finalised. The Union Minister reportedly agreed to consider the proposal favourably.Patnaik also called on Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni and discussed about various tourism projects of the State.During the discussion, he demanded for an early sanction of Rs.50 crore for development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in the famous tourism circuit of Bhubaneswar-Konark-Puri-Chilika under the Mega Circuit Scheme.
Soni reportedly agreed to include the circuit of Bhubaneswar-Konark-Puri-Chilika under the Mega Circuit Scheme and extend all necessary assistance under the scheme for its integrated development. She also reportedly agreed to consider release of 5o per cent of the funds immediately.Patnaik asked for a direct flight and a thematic tourist train to connect Varanasi and Bodhigaya with the Buddhist sites of Orissa. The Union Minister reportedly intimated that the Government of India will extend all support for the connectivity of the Buddist sites.She also agreed to take up the matter with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Railways soon. Soni also intimated that the matter of rail connectivity of Bhubaneswar, Banaras and Gaya would be discussed with the Planning Commission and Ministry of Railways soon.
Patnaik urged the Union Minister to take up the project of sound and light show for Konark, which is a world heritage site and also for the historic Barabati Fort at Cuttack. The Union Minister was also requested for expeditious completion of the sound and light show at Khandagiri. The Chief Minister also demanded for better maintenance of the historical monuments, Buddhist sites, temples and other protected monuments by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).