Bengaluru: Karnataka generated a record two crore person-days of employment under the Centre’s VB-G RAM G rural employment guarantee scheme between July 1 and Oct 13 this year, up 19% from 1.7 crore person-days under MGNREGA during the corresponding period last year.Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), which replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, was implemented in Karnataka on July 1.“The increase this year comes amid a steep rainfall deficit attributed to the El Nino effect,” rural development and panchayat raj minister Eshwar Khandre said Wednesday. “Employment was provided under the scheme to a larger number of rural poor, Dalits, disadvantaged unskilled workers and landless labourers.”Among districts, Raichur topped with 24 lakh person-days of employment, followed by Bidar with 21 lakh and Koppal with 18 lakh. Year-on-year employment generation rose 340% in Vijayanagara, 257% in Kalaburagi, 207% in Koppal, 175% in Ballari and 173% in Bidar, Khandre said.The state has issued 87,164 new job cards this year and is conducting e-KYC verification of existing cards and job card camps to facilitate access to work. These measures have helped hundreds of families find employment locally instead of migrating in search of work, the minister said.Works under the scheme include desilting lakes, rejuvenating canals and ponds, social forestry, building cattle sheds and farm ponds, preventing soil erosion, constructing compost pits, and improving rural roads. The scheme has also been expanded to cover houses under housing schemes and community halls and rural bus stands, with a focus on creating permanent assets and supporting village development.Each family is eligible for up to 125 days of employment annually, with a daily wage of Rs 382 for men and women. A household securing the full quota can earn up to Rs 47,750 a year, Khandre said.Meanwhile, the govt Wednesday declared nine more taluks drought-hit, taking the total to 226 and leaving only 14, mostly in the coastal region, outside the list.
