TN govt adds nursery maintenance, greenery, and tree planting in MGNREGA scheme
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu govt has introduced
tree planting
and
nursery maintenance
under the category of works under the
MGNREGA scheme
.
The govt will create nurseries in every district with various plants, flowers, and shrubs, and the workers will take care of them every day.
Rural development
department officials said two workers from a family will be deployed per nursery.
"When a tree matures up to six feet high, it will then be shifted to roadsides, parks, or lake bunds. Tree planting along medians and watering will also be included. This will create a sense of communityship to add greenery in neighbourhoods," said the official.
Officials said as they have added greenery within this scheme so more parks can be created. It won't require floating separate tenders. In a recent GO, the department also instructed local bodies to ensure greenery and tree plantation in all govt schools through the scheme.
From about 40 crore mandays in 2023, the number of work hours allocated for the state by the centre reduced to 20 crore mandays the next year, and now, it's only 12 crore mandays. "TN beneficiaries are getting just about 60 days of work. This is still better than most other states, but we need more mandays to ensure people get more work," said the official.
The state also hiked the MGNREGA wages from Rs 319 to Rs 336 this year. Activists said that district administrations must carry out resurveys to add left-out families under the scheme. "This scheme is yet to reach several Narikuravar and Irular tribal families. As a result, they are forced to work in farmlands of dominant caste members, and some are subject to discrimination too," said M Azhagesan, Chengalpet district secretary of TN Tribal Association.
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