SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 24: The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met here today under the chairmanship of Governor, Satya Pal Malik accorded sanction to notification of modified implementation arrangements under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme-2007 (MGNREGA).

Since its launch in 2005 in the Centre and 2007 in the State, the scale, purview and the finances involved in the implementation of MGNREGA have undergone a huge change and presently requiring time bound planning and coordination across multi-departments and not just Rural Development Department.

In the modified implementation arrangement, the District Development and Planning Board shall be the principal authority for planning and implementation of the schemes at district level. The District Development Commissioner (DDC) shall be the District Programme Coordinator (DPC) for implementation of the scheme and the Assistant Commissioner (Development) shall be the Additional District Programme Coordinator (ADPC). The ADPC shall ensure adherence to timelines for planning under MGNREGA at various levels.

For convergence of different activities under the scheme, it was felt imperative to designate DDCs as District Project Coordinator for the scheme since they have direct control over various district level officers and have larger resources at their command than the ACD. While the ACD will assist the DDC in preparation of the labour budget, district plan and convergence plan, the actual responsibility of planning, implementation and monitoring shall vest with the DDCs.

In all other states of the country, DDCs are the fulcrum around which the entire scheme of implementation of NREGA revolves. 

The modified implementation arrangement will ensure timely execution of projects and generation of tangible assets in the rural areas of the State with improved planning and monitoring of the flagship programme at the level of the DDC.