Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has asked the States and Union Territories to proactively implement Rural Development Schemes relating to employment generation, rural housing and infrastructure development.

He said, the States should take all necessary COVID-19 related precautions while implementing the schemes.

Narendra Singh Tomar said this while holding a video conference with Rural Development Ministers and concerned officers of States and UTs on Wednesday.

He emphasised that under MGNREGA, the focus should be on water conservation, ground water recharge and irrigation work in convergence with the Schemes of Ministry of Jal Shakti and Department of Land Resources.

During the meeting, he also informed the States that 36 thousand 400 crore rupees has been released in the current financial year to them.

He said, Rural Development Ministry has also sanctioned Rs. 33, 300 crore under MGNREGA out of which Rs. 20, 624 crore has been released to liquidate all outstanding dues of previous years towards wages and material.

This sanctioned amount is sufficient to meet expenses under MGNRGA till June 2020.

The Union Minister assured the States and UTs that sufficient financial resources are available for different Rural Development Programmes.

Narendra Singh Tomar also informed that Under Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G), 2.21crore houses have already been sanctioned, out of which, 1 crore 86 thousand houses have been completed.

He emphasized that priority should be to complete those 48 lakh housing units where 3rd and 4th instalments have already been released.During the video conference,

During video conference, the States assured Mr Tomar that with the active support of Central Government, they will make all possible efforts to ensure that rural development schemes are implemented in an effective manner so that the pain arising out of COVID-19 is mitigated .

