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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
A. Issuing Job Cards
At the close of 2013-14, all India figure pertaining to Job Cards issued is to the tune of 131.25 million out of which West Bengal alone contributes 11.65 million which is 9 per cent of the all India figure. In terms of number of Job Cards issued, West Bengal is fourth in the country.
B. Providing employment to Households:
As per MIS, in 2013-14, although the all-India figure witnessed slight reduction in providing of employment to the job card holder to 47.13 million households, households continued to increase in West Bengal and reached 6.13 million. Share of West Bengal (third in the country) was 12 percent in 2012-13 and increased to 13 percent in 2013-14.
C. Expenditure incurred:
Expenditure-wise, during 2013-14, the State met with an unprecedented crisis due to serious gaps in getting central release. Thus, although paid expenditure during the year (Rs. 3702.76 crore) was even slightly lower than what we could incur in 2012-13, if we add the factor of due payment which was as high as nearly 1900 crore, our total expenditure during 2013-14 soared to Rs. 5614.69 crore which was highest in the country.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
PMGSY work is running in the full swing in the rural areas of West Bengal in spite of its fund constraint from Govt. of India for the last two-three months. The achievements of PMGSY are as under:
• During the financial year 2013-14, the achievement under PMGSY is shown in the table below:
No. of Roads Completed Length in KM completed : 613
Length in KM completed : 2631.55
Expenditure incurred in Rs.crore : 1130.43
• As on 1st April 2014, 893 roads entailing 4185.062 KM were under different stages of execution.
• During the financial year (2014-15) up to April, 2014, the progress under PMGSY is shown in the table below :
No. of Roads : 15
Length in KM completed : 64.427
Expenditure incurred in Rs. crore : 98.72
• In terms of length, achievement of PMGSY is 2.2 times compared to that of previous year.
• In terms of expenditure, achievement of PMGSY will be 2.61 times compared to that of previous year.
• As on 1st April, 2014 808 roads entailing 3874.88 km will remain in progress in different stages and effort will be made to complete at least 3,000 km of road length in the next Financial Year.
Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)
Activities in 2013-14 commenced with an opening balance of Rs. 252.66 crore. For construction of 224443 houses during the year, we could secure Rs.829.00 crore as Central share and Rs.149.00 as State share. With interest accrued added, our total availability for the year was Rs. 1242.00 crore. Substantial fund, however, was released only during February-March 2014 period. Our utilization of fund till February 2014 was Rs.607 crore. In terms of physical performance, till date 169971 houses could be sanctioned by the Districts.
Highlights of Achievements
• The system of fund release could be restored for the GTA, Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad and Paschim Medinipur after a gap of nearly three years.
• 15 Districts could prefer claims out of which 2nd installment was released to 14 Districts through active facilitation by the Department.
• We are now in the process of developing the model estimates for low cost, alternative technology options for creation of assets under MGNREGS Models for which a Workshop has been organized at SIPRD, Kalyani during 24-27 April 2014.
• Complete use of AWAASSoft, the MIS portal for monitoring performance under IAY.
Anandadhara (WBSRLM)
Till date WBSRLM has completed about 76% of staffing, recorded expenditure to the tune of about 52% and has spent around Rs 46.15 Crores under Revolving Fund / Pragati Fund benefitting around 37,000 SHGs. The Department has completed an SHG census and has successfully developed a digitized database of SHGs in the State. West Bengal is also the only State to have proposed to have an end-to-end IT system that would provide a digitized platform for delivery of services. We have branded ourselves as Anandadhara and have a logo.
Number of SHGs formed in the State as per the new NRLM guidelines during 2013-14 is 8836. West Bengal is also one of the few States to have SHGs’ organization, viz., Upa-Sanghas (Gram Sansad level integrated body of SHGs) and the Sanghas (GP level bodies). The State has been able to nurture 26,676 Upa Sanghas (84 formed this year) and 2704 Sanghas (17 formed this year).
WBSRLM has completed preparation of the HR Manual, Financial Management Manual, and Financial Inclusion Manual.
Status of works as listed in the last report:
• Forming Manuals and Guidelines:
- Community Operation Manual (COM) has been finalized after several rounds of revisions
- HR Manual is in the stage of fine tuning in relation to the model HR manual circulated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India
• Structure and guidelines for working of Sangha and Upa-Sangha:
- Finalized in COM
• Training and Capacity Building plan development:
- Modules prepared through State level workshops in final stage
Marketing Infrastructure
Under Anandadhara, initiative has been taken to set up marketing infrastructure at State, District and Block level with the objective for creation of marketing opportunity for the products of the Self Help Groups. These marketing infrastructures will have necessary arrangement of providing training on different component of market linkage, quality improvement and value addition of the products. These will be run and managed by the SHGs themselves.
Initiatives taken for setting up Haats at different levels is as under:
State Haat: At the State level, initiative has been taken for setting up of a State Haat in the prime location of Madhusudan Mancha premises, Dhakuria. The available space of the State Haat is 776 sq. metre and the estimated project cost is Rs. 7.5 crores. The work has started.
District Haat: A well planned marketing centre will be set up in each District. Accordingly the District authorities have been instructed to identify suitable land for the District haats and after finalization of the location, construction of District haats will be taken up. Estimated cost of the District haat is around Rs 1.75 crore and requirement of land is around 15 kathas. Work has been initiated in ten Districts.
Block Haat: 101 Blocks have been identified where rural haats will be set up. Out of 101 blocks identified, construction work has either been completed or ongoing in 45 blocks. In respect of remaining 56 blocks, site for construction has been identified.
Urban Haat: It has been decided to set up an Urban Haat at Rajarhat area for which proposal has been prepared. The matter of procuring land from the Urban Development Department is under process.
Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF)
BRGF is being implemented in eleven Districts of West Bengal, viz., Jalpaiguri, Bankura, Birbhum, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, South-24 Parganas, Malda, Murshidabad and Purba Medinipur from the 11th Five Year plan period.
Achievement under BRGF
• Out of the total available fund of Rs.264.67 crore in 2013-14, a sum of Rs.194.84 crore has been utilized up to 31.03.14 (73.6%). Progress of work has been partially affected due to Panchayat Election as the programme is implemented by Panchayats.
• However, 94.82% of fund released cumulatively by the MoPR, GoI has been utilized.
• Balance works of the previous year have also been taken up. As on 31.03.14, 24309 number of scheme have been completed during the year as against 22656 number of schemes completed in 2012-13.
• Fund is utilized in a convergent mode to meet critical gap in development interventions. ICDS centres, Infrastructure of GPs, all weather roads in small habitations, passenger shed, drinking water, market complex, culverts, supplementary nutrition, guard wall, furniture in educational institutions are some of the schemes taken up under BRGF.
Recently, it has been recommended for restructuring of BRGF by the GoI keeping in view of backwardness of Districts and sub Districts under two categories of “Core” and “Periphery”. New Guidelines for BRGF are yet to be finalized. Only five Districts, i.e. South 24-Parganas, Purulia, Bankura, Uttar Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri have been considered as core Districts where the programme is considered to be continued in the entire Districts. In the remaining six erstwhile Districts being termed as periphery Districts, the programme is recommended only for a few identified blocks. Coochbehar has been included as a periphery District. Views of the State government in favour of continuing the programme as per existing guideline have been communicated to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. However, the programme will be continued as per existing guidelines during 2014-15.
Central Finance Commission (CFC) Grant
The objectives of the 13th FC are to create infrastructure like office building and ICT to maintain the existing e-governance system. Priority is given towards maintenance work on items for which Panchayats are responsible like SSK, MSK, ICDS Centers, Roads, Hat, Bazaar, Markets, Picnic or Tourist spots, Park, Garden, Playground, Places of Social Interest etc including maintenance work of Block Primary Health Centers and sub- Centers
Status Report
• Total fund available till date (cumulative) : Rs. 134332.44 Lakh
• Total Fund Disbursed : Rs. 134332.44 Lakh
• Percentage of Disbursement : 100 %
State Finance Commission Grant:
The objective of this program is to develop the rural areas by creating new assets for faster economic and human development.
Status Report
• Total fund available till date (cumulative) : Rs. 157251.10 Lakh
• Total Fund Disbursed : Rs. 157251.10 Lakh
• Percentage of Disbursement : 100 %
Institutional Strengthening of Gram Panchayats (ISGP) Project
The Institutional Strengthening of Gram Panchayat (ISGP) Project supported by the World Bank is a stride towards making Gram Panchayat a stronger institution to increase quality of service delivery to cater the need of the rural citizens of the State.
The project is currently being implemented in 1000 GPs (around one third of total GPs) spread across 9 Districts (Cooch Behar-76 GPs, Dakshin Dinajpur-39 GPs, Birbhum-99 GPs, Nadia-111 GPs, Burdwan-165 GPs, Bankura-113 GPs, Paschim Medinipur-172 GPs, Purba Medinipur-132 GPs and Howrah-93 GPs)of West Bengal.
The project involves a cost of US$235 million, out of which IDA credit is US$200 million and counterpart financing available from State Government is US$35 million. Disbursement of IDA credit till March 2014 is USD$158.25mn and counterpart financing till March 2014 is USD$ 56.00 million (Rs.61 per US dollar).
The program became effective on 3rd September, 2010 and is expected to close on 31st December, 2015.
Project Components wise progress:
Component One (Grants to Gram Panchayats-Grants provided to GPs to execute mandated functions and incentivize institutional strengthening):
Annual Performance Based Untied Grant (Block Grant) has been provided by the State Government to the eligible GPs since 2010-11 for creation of public goods and to improve local service delivery. In 2013, Rs.202.85Cr. has been released to 792 GPs against a target of 600 GPs. In 2014, Rs.294.08Cr. is to be released in May 2014 in favour of 960 GPs against World Bank’s target of 650 GPs.
Financial Progress
Till 31st March 2014, out of Rs. 857.66 Crore received from the World Bank, Rs.843.59 Crore has been utilized till 22nd May 2014.
Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA)
Under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, after the initial slump in the first few months, activities peaked during November-March period and till 31st March 2014, we could construct 608218 no. of IHHL, 8500 School Toilet Blocks and 5742 toilets in Anganwadi Centres.
Highlights of Special Interventions
The Districts were oriented on the priorities of the Department including our commitment to achieve Nirmal Bangla by 2017, convergence with MGNREGS, saturation approach for quick transition to Nirmal Gram in identified Gram Panchayats.
Observing National Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation Week, 2014 through intensive IEC activities
1. The State level launching of the programme was organised at Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata on 18.02.2014.
2. District level workshops were organised between 19.02.2014 and 21.02.2014.
3. All the Gram Panchayats took oath on 20.02.2014 to achieve Nirmal status by March, 2017.
4. Intensive IEC activities were organised during Grameen Mela at every Block between 22.02.2014 & 27.02.2014.
5. Different other IEC initiatives were taken & interpersonal communication efforts were made at the household level during the week.
National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)
• Introduction
The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is a Welfare programme being administered by the Ministry of Rural Development. This programme is being implemented in rural areas as well as in urban areas. Government of India on 15th August 1995 included the National Social Assistance Programme in the Central Budget for 1995-96. The NSAP at present includes five sub schemes:
•Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)
•Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme
•Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
•National Family Benefit Scheme
•Annapurna Scheme (Implemented by Food and Supply Department).
50% of the required fund for the operation of these schemes is now being released as Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to the State by the Ministry of Finance. Rest 50% is being provided by the State Government from its budget.
a. Present Status:
i. 3.5 lakh new beneficiaries were identified in the month of February 2014, eligible to get pension from April 2014
ii. 19.2 lakh of beneficiaries have received pension up to March, 2014 and Fund up to May, 2014 has been released from the Department
iii. New version of SEBA software has been launched in February, 2014 for importing new beneficiaries. All Districts except Darjeeling have imported new beneficiaries in SEBA
iv. Physical verification of new beneficiaries is going on
v. DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) has started in Coochbehar and Howrah through CPSMS
Status report of NSAP
Total fund available till date (During the Financial Year): Rs 209728.751 Lakh
• Fund released : Rs 166943.743 Lakh
• Percentage of release: 79.60 %
• Fund has been released to BDOs for payment of pension up to September, 2014.
NATIONAL SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME (Family Benefit Scheme)
Status report
• Total fund available till date (During the Financial Year): Rs 8614.66 Lakh
• Fund released : Rs 8614.66 Lakh
• Percentage of release: 100.00 %
Aam Admi Bima Yojana
This is an insurance scheme for landless agricultural labourers of age between 18 to 59 years having own land less that 50 decimals. Incumbent is not required to pay any premium. Govt. pays premium to the Life Insurance Corporation of India at the rate of Rs. 200 per year per person. The amount is borne by the Central and the State Governments in equal installments.
Additional benefit
Each child (maximum of 2) of a beneficiary reading in class Class-IX to Class-XII is eligible to get scholarship at the rate of Rs. 100/- per month.
Status Report
Total no of registered beneficiaries : 8,44,744
Insurance claims received during 2013-14 : 332
Insurance claims settled by the LIC : 160
Provident Fund for Landless Agricultural Labourers (PROFLAL)
This is a Provident Fund scheme of landless agricultural labourers of age between 18 to 60 years having own land less that 50 decimals. The beneficiary has to deposit Rs. 20/- per month. The State Government deposits equal sum in the beneficiary’s account in every month.
After completion of the age of 60 years, the entire amount deposited by the beneficiary and the State Government together with interest is computed and paid to the beneficiary.
Status Report
Total No of Registered Beneficiaries : 12,98,633
Claims settled 2013-14 : 3540
Computerization of PRIs
a. Present Status: GPMS, IFMS
i. GPMS has been installed in 3238 Gram Panchayats except in the GPs of hill areas of Darjeeling.
ii. Out of the 3238 GPs, GPMS is being used on a real-time basis in 2659 GPs.
iii. The records and accounts of these 2659 GPs are regularly uploaded in the website of the Department. These include monthly cash analysis of the Gram Panchayats which are open for inspection through the portal.
iv. Gram Panchayats are using GPMS for different service delivery facilities like issuance of Birth and Death Certificate, trade license, issue of certificate etc.
v. IFMS software for financial management is being installed in all Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishads. All ZPs and 280 Panchayat Samitis are regularly uploading monthly cash analysis (Form 27) in public domain
vi. Status of all GPs is available in public domain ( www.wbprdgpms.in)
vii. Process of development of new online version of GPMS is in full swing; the service delivery module has been launched as well and it is now implemented in one GP on pilot basis. From 1 April, 2014, this module has been shifted in 20 GPs in pilot. Total rollout will be done in 2015-16
viii. Bridge software (between GPMS and PRIASOFT) has already been developed and at present 909 GPs have uploaded xmls generated from GPMS in PRIASOFT. Now all the vouchers with National Accounting codes are available in public domain
b. Present Status: Adoption of Panchayat Enterprise Suit
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI, has developed a set of 12 software applications under the umbrella of Panchayat Enterprise Suit. Our State has already completed data entry in Local Government Directory. We are using Planplus, Actionsoft and National Panchayat Portal. A national workshop on Model Accounting System was organized on 24th and 25th February, 2014 in the Department where Deputy CAG, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj , PD Regional Training Institute, Kolkata and Delhi together with representatives from CGA, AG and representatives from PRD Departments of 16 States participated. A workshop on e-Panchayat was organized from 26th February to 28th February. Representatives from MoPR, Tripura, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh participated in the workshop.
c. Other software Application:
Development of online version of Rural House Hold Survey software and SEBA (Software for pension disbursement) has been started.
d. Development and updating of official website:
The official website has been updated and provision for online reporting for ISGPP project and module for fund release has been incorporated.
Socio Economic Caste Census
a. Present status :
i. Draft list has been published in all Districts except Howrah, Burdwan, North 24 Parganas and Kolkata (Urban) Districts.
ii. Entry of claims and Objection in the Claims Objection Tracking Software (COTS) is under process. Data File for North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Burdwan and Kolkata were yet to be provided by the Ministry of Rural Development.
iii. MoRD has given provisional database of SECC for analysis and framing policy of NFSA.
Sishu Siksha & Madhyamik Siksha Karmasuchi
• Steps taken for requirement of Textbooks to the learners for the academic year 2015.
• Fund allotted to the Districts for construction of 162 Nos. SSKs, additional classrooms of Rs.591.905 lakh.
• Fund allotted to the Districts for construction of 102 Nos. MSKs, additional classrooms of Rs.417.765 lakh.
• Fund allotted to the Districts for procurement of School Dress in respect of 1287714 SSK learners, fund involved was to the tune of Rs. 5150.856 lakh.
• Fund allotted to the District for procurement of School Dress of 378247 MSK learners, fund involved of Rs.1512.988 lakh.
• Fund for School Grant in respect of 16098 Nos. of SSKs, disbursed sum is Rs.804.90 lakh.
• Fund for School Grant of 1918 Nos. of MSKs fund involved was Rs.134.26 lakh.
• Maintenance Grant in respect of 16098 SSKs disbursed, fund given Rs.882.65 lakh.
• Maintenance Grant for 1918 MSKs disbursed of Rs.162.60 lakh.
• Fund allotted to the Districts for Textbook Grant of 306307 Nos. MSK learners to the tune of Rs.366.91457 lakh.
• Fund allotted to the Districts for SC/ST Grant of 157912 MSK learners, total fund disbursed is to the tune of Rs.250.5364 lakh.
The West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation
The West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation is a statutory autonomous body under the Government. This developmental organization came into being in 1976. The Corporation has 21 notified projects and one Krishi Vigyan Kendra, which are located throughout the Districts of West Bengal except South 24 Parganas and South Dinajpur.
Major Achievements of WBCADC In 2013-14
Seed Multiplication Programme
The WBCADC has been playing a vital role in production of quality seeds of paddy, pulses and oil-seeds, maize, wheat and vegetables in the State since inception. As against a total production of around 1500 M.T. of certified seed in 2012-13, the production in 2013-14 is 2800 M.T. (approximately) as on 31.03.14.
Animal Husbandry
In 2013-14, a piggery unit has been set up at Saharjore project in Purulia with a capacity of 150 pigs for catering to the need of the backward villages. Hatchery unit at Balarampur project in Kuchbihar has been renovated and its capacity has been augmented. A massive Animal Husbandry programme for distribution of piglets, poultry birds, goat has been taken up in the backward villages of the tea garden areas in Jalpaiguri.
Resuscitation of Kumari Kanan
Resuscitation of Kumari Kanan under Ajodhya Hill project has been taken up with all round developmental activities. These include seed multiplication of Breeder to Foundation and Foundation to Certified paddy seeds (83 MT), pulse and oilseed, fisheries, horticulture, floriculture, ARD etc. Record number of tourists have visited and booked the tourist lodges at Ajodhya Hill Top in the current year. Facilities in the two Guest Houses at Ajodhya Hills (Malabika and Niharika) have been upgraded. As against a total revenue rent of Rs.1,18,680/- generated in 2011-12, Rs. 6,70,779/- generated in 2012-13, in 2013-14 an amount of Rs.25,70,000 has been generated up to 31.03.2014.
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Panchayat and Rural Development
