While the Congress is planning to showcase the UPA Government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) as its major achievement this election year, the Rs 16,000 crore allotted for it for 2008-09 may fall short of requirements in the next fiscal.

Official sources said the Government has not only disbursed Rs 12,000 crore allotted for the scheme in 2007-08 to the states but, the Rural Development Ministry which administers it, has also spent more than Rs 300 crore over and above this from the savings it had from other schemes.

The ministry may have to seek over Rs 300 crore more in the third supplementary demands for 2007-08 to continue the scheme for the remaining days of March, which also happens to be one of the peak seasons for employment demand under the scheme.

Incidentally, as reported by The Indian Express, the Mayawati Government has shot off three letters to the Centre demanding money to carry forward the NREGS in Uttar Pradesh, warning that they were running short of money to pay job card holders.

The Government may end up spending about Rs 13,000 crore during 2007-08, as against Rs 12,000 crore allotted for the scheme. This is in contrast to the expenditure of about Rs 8,000 crore as against Rs 11,300 crore provided for the scheme in its first year, 2006-07.

The jump in expenses is primarily on account of extension of the scheme to 130 more districts during the second year. But given that the Government is planning to extend the NREGS to all the rural districts of the country — bringing in over 250 more districts next year — budgetary allocation of Rs 16,000 crore for 2008-2009 may not suffice.

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