The Hindu 17.12.2010
Five lakh urban youth to get work
N.J. Nair
|
State’s urban job scheme comes on stream |
Two lakh youth to get employment in the first phase
Women to get about 50 per cent of the work to be created
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
(AUEGS), a State government initiative for providing 100 days’
employment to young people from families below the poverty line in the
limits of the City Corporations and the municipalities, has come on
stream.
The first phase will provide work to two lakh people.
The scheme, with a budgetary allocation of Rs.20 crore, targets to increase the number of beneficiaries to five lakh in phases.
It is modelled on the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Job cards
The beneficiaries, on being issued job cards, can submit applications
for employment to the civic bodies. About 50 per cent of the jobs have
been reserved for women. The wages will be equal to that paid under the
national scheme.
Under the guidelines, the applicants will be given employment within 5 km of their residences.
If the work site is beyond this limit, they will be eligible for a 10 per cent additional wage.
The wages will be distributed once in a fortnight. Compensation for
delayed payment will be given under the provisions of the Payment of
Wages Act, 1936.
Work areas
Job-seekers have been given the right to select works. Water
conservation, micro-irrigation, Centrally sponsored Schemes, land
development, slum- and cluster-development projects under various
Central schemes, surveys for various departments and services will be
taken up.
Online management information and ward-level social auditing systems
have been envisaged for transparent implementation of the scheme.
Execution, maintenance of records, social auditing and grievance redress
are some of the main duties of the civic bodies. Other than a
State-level apex council, district-level councils, headed by the
district collectors, will review the scheme and submit reports to the
government.
The Local Self-Government Department will disburse funds and monitor the scheme.
Administrative and technical sanction for the works planned during a financial year should be given in advance.
Identification number
A unique identification number should be given for each work to avoid duplication.
It has been proposed to constitute a technical advisory group in every civic body exclusively for the conduct of the scheme.
Seed money will be given to the districts for the preliminary
functions. Once the civic bodies submit the labour budget, the first
instalment of the funds will be released.
The second instalment will be released on expending 60 per cent of
the first allocation. Clear norms have been laid down for reviewing the
progress of the works and auditing the accounts.
