The Hindu 21.12.2009
State plans urban job scheme
N.J. Nair
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government is gearing up to launch its own urban employment guarantee programme to provide 100 days of work a year to every poor family living in the Corporation and municipal areas.
The thrust of the programme, to be implemented through the local self-government institutions, will be on the services sector and infrastructure development.
Official sources told The Hindu here that flexibility would be the hallmark of the programme, which aimed to meet the development needs of the State and to generate employment opportunities for the weaker sections.
Funds for the programme will be allocated in the Plan fund for 2010-11. The programme has been conceived as an alternative to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The rigid guidelines are impeding optimum utilisation of the allocated funds. Braving such constraints, the State has made remarkable strides in spending the funds allocated for the scheme.
