[Assam] [WaterWatch] Digest Number 1451

[mc mahant]

Assam Journalists--if they are that-- should provide facts  to authenticate/qualify/contradict such a claim.
Maybe Assam Govt. will now say " Unfortunately we lost the data(or knowledge  ,maybe- wisdom!!)in the   JANATA BHAWAN FIRE .
 
mm
 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------> Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:45:23 -0600> To: assam at assamnet.org> From: cmahanta at charter.net> Subject: Re: [Assam] [WaterWatch] Digest Number 1451> > ________________________________________________________________________> 5. NREGA saves 50 Assam villages from floods?> Posted by: "mediavigil" mediavigil at yahoo.co.in mediavigil> Date: Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:39 pm ((PST))> > > Moderator's Note: Raghuvansh Prasad Singh claims, "In Assam, for> example, nearly 50 villages were saved from floods because the NREGA> helped build a series of dams for a bargain basement price of Rs 9.5> lakh."> > > Will someone from Assam verify the truthfulness of this claim?> > > Moderator> > > 'We will make social audit compulsory for NREGA scheme'> > > > > 30 Dec 2008> > Economic Times> > > > The amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, along with the new> Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2008 (R&R Bill) was supposed to> rid state governments of the role of acquiring land for private> industrial projects and come up with a non-exploitative resettlement> policy. That was not to be, as the amendment and bills got referred to a> Group of Ministers (GoM) for the second time. Minister for rural> development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh speaks to Nistula Hebbar on> the way forward.> > The amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the R&R Bill have> been extensively examined by a GoM and the standing committee of> Parliament, but now the whole issue has been referred to another GoM.> What exactly is the reason for this?> > Well, the standing committee report and the bills and amendments> proposed by the ministry differed on very significant points. We agreed> on several points but we also disagreed on many. For example, we> proposed that when a private company proposes an industrial project, it> would acquire 70% of the land required on its own before asking for the> state's help in the remaining acquisition and that too if issues of> contiguity are involved.> > The standing committee, on the other hand, felt that the state> governments should have the discretion to acquire all the land required,> if they feel the project merits it. All these differences were weighed> and the Cabinet in its wisdom felt that the bills should be revisited.> > > The Parliament session concluded last week was in fact the penultimate> session of the 14th Lok Sabha. Don't you think the Bills will now> never make it as legislation, at least in the life of this government?> > Of course not, I have every hope that the bills will be cleared. We are> yet to constitute a GoM but I feel that it will take no more than a> couple of meetings for it to arrive at a conclusion on the Bills. We> have already held the widest possible consultation for this and I have> personally met Medha Patkar twice over the bills. All this is not in> vain. We will take time, but will come up with a set of policies that> will have the widest consensus. After all it took two years to bring the> NREGA to Parliament.> > > Talking of the NREGA, one has seen that a charge that has been levelled> against the Act is that there has been hardly any creation of permanent> assets. As a dole programme, do you think this is incidental to the Act?> > Only the anti-rural, anti-poor people can level such charges against a> truly welfare oriented programme. Almost 50% of the programme is> oriented towards water conservation. Do you know that we have figures to> prove that water tables across the countryside have risen significantly?> In the urban areas this may not appear to be important. But there is> all-round benefit because migration to urban areas has also come down> significantly.> > In Assam, for example, nearly 50 villages were saved from floods because> the NREGA helped build a series of dams for a bargain basement price of> Rs 9.5 lakh. As there are two and a half lakh panchayats across the> country, how can each one's performance be the same? There will> always be some smart people and also some not-so-smart ones. One should> note that even agricultural minimum wages have increased across the> board in states, thanks to NREGA.> > > Since the increase in agricultural wages seems to have angered the> powerful farmers lobby, do you expect a political backlash against the> UPA government?> > The NREGA is only for providing work in the lean season of agriculture.> Therefore the farmers cannot blame NREGA for luring workers away from> agricultural work. There is also a clause in the NREGA, referring to the> state minimum wages Act of 1943 that the wages for NREGA have to be the> same as the states minimum wages.> > What has happened is what happens when there is a wider variety of> employment available—that is, workers have a choice. Farmers should> also look at the flipside, they may have to pay more but migration has> been slowed because of NREGA and therefore there is agricultural labour> available in the countryside.> > > The CAG report was quite scathing over the implementation of NREGA. Are> you taking any steps to counter that impression?> > We are making social audits compulsory, and have almost finalised> procedures to ensure that gram sabha meetings be videographed. What this> will do is ensure that there is a working gram sabha in place, and the> NREGA fund is spent after adequate debate and preparation.> > > Messages in this topic (1)> ___________________________________> > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
_________________________________________________________________
Much more than email – don't miss out on the rest of the Windows Live™.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/events.aspx