NEW DELHI: After a recent NSSO study revealed that Swachh Bharat is yet to meet its targets especially when it came to the usage of toilets, the government is thinking of linking its largest rural employment scheme, MNREGA with it.An idea proposed by Rural development ministry to use workers of MNREGA for collecting wastes from households and work in solid waste management plants is being worked out at the Centre that has written to all States requesting for support on this. Rural Development Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra told ET that the Centre is looking at ways MNREGA workers be used in work related to Swachh Bharat first in all 500 villages where the Sansad Gram Yojana is being implemented.The idea is also to channelise the significant funding and labour MNREGA gets to the PM’s pet project, said officials. Besides that, officials are closely studying the implementation of sanitation schemes in Tamil Nadu that has been using MNREGA workers to segregate and collect wastes from households, compost and send it to solid waste management plants.“Nearly 27 lakh toilets in houses built under Indra Avas Yojana will come from MNREGA workers this year. Now we are looking at how funding for solid waste management and waste collection can come from MNREGA,” an official said. Only recently, Mohapatra was given the responsibility of Swachh Bharat project because of which there has been greater coordination between the rural development and the ministry of drinking water and sanitation that is anchoring the project.Officials here said the aligning of the scheme with MNREGA has already began at places in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where the State governments have accepted the proposal, officials said.The Centre is also looking at examples of places in West Bengal where with just funds pooled from government schemes like 'National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan' (NBA) and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) several villages open defecation free in two years.