Rural Development Minister Birender Singh has reiterated that there will be no dilution in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Scheme. Replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha, Mr Singh said, the government has allocated more than Rs 26,000 crore under the scheme to the states till October this year. He also refuted the allegation of the Members that his Ministry is not expediting payments of MGNREGA. The Minister said payments are getting delayed as the states are not fulfilling the required procedure. He informed the House that the wage-material ratio will be 60:40. He said, there is a need to increase the material component to create quality assets and for this government has created a convergence plan. He said, 21 states have come forward in the support of the plan.
Mr Singh said, although the MGNREGA scheme is demand driven, it will be intensified in 2500 blocks of the country and rest of the blocks will also remain part of the scheme. The Minister said the government is going to release the payments directly in the account of beneficiaries to address the problem of delayed payments.