Berhampur: Ganjam district has set a milestone in employment generation by providing over two crore person days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the 2021-22 financial year.
The southern district has topped the list of all 30 districts in terms job creation under the rural job scheme.
As on October 8, 2021, Ganjam has generated 2,01,094,25 person days of work, which is the highest in a financial year in the history of Odisha.
The district has also topped in the State under the expenditure by spending Rs 386.32 crore till October 8.
The Ganjam administration had created history by generating over 1 crore persondays in the first two months of the current fiscal.
The feat has been achieved as the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Ganjam has effectively implemented the scheme to beat the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic on the rural economy.
“Our aim is to provide employment to all those who need it and create durable assets for sustainable livelihoods”, said Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb, Project Director, DRDA, Ganjam.
The focus of the administration has been on community-centric as well as individual projects in order to provide not only works to people in need but also to create beautiful durable assets to change the face of rural Ganjam.
The community projects such as rural parks, tourism circuits, tanks and canal renovation, check dams and rural connectivity etc. have been taken up under the MGNREGA. Similarly, individual projects such as cattle sheds, goat sheds, poultry shelters, Mo Upakari Bagicha, fodder cultivation etc, have been implemented in a massive scale on priority basis. More than five lakh coconut trees have been planted in the field bunds by the people to support their livelihoods.
Besides, the Ganjam admin has also taken up innovative project like one cattle hostel in every block for the land less beneficiaries.
Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has emphasized on creating livelihoods through MNREGA for the people and had asked all the district authorities to provide support to the people at distress at this COVID pandemic scenario. He had also emphasized on timely payment of wages to the beneficiaries and regular feedback through Mo Sarkar platform.
Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has congratulated the DRDA for the feat.