The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has announced that convergence of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) with other schemes relating to agriculture, forest, water resources, land resources and rural roads is being initiated to increase the productivity of assets and resources under NREGA. In the first stage, a total of 115 pilot districts have been selected for such convergence. Details of these measures and convergence guidelines will be formulated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Mukherjee added.
Presenting the budget proposals 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha today, Shri Mukherjee said that NREGA has been a magnificent success providing employment opportunities for more than 4.47 crore households during 2008-09. Mr. Mukherjee announced an allocation of Rs.39,100 crore for the year 2009-10 for NREGA which marks an increase of 144% over 2008-09 Budget Estimates.