In a significant administrative shift, the Bihar government has initiated the transfer of specific scheme-related works back to their parent departments, marking the first major step under the revised and reformulated Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme, now named VB-G-RAM-G.
Key Decisions from High-Level Meeting
The pivotal decision was taken during a high-level meeting held on Wednesday, attended by senior officials from the Water Resources Department (WRD) and the Rural Development Department (RDD). The meeting saw the presence of WRD Principal Secretary Santosh Kumar Mall and RDD Secretary Pankaj Kumar. State MGNREGA Programme Commissioner Abhilasha Kumari Sharma also participated, along with other senior officials from both departments.
It was conclusively decided that henceforth, the Water Resources Department will be responsible for earth removal work in canals carrying up to 20 cusecs of water. This includes small canals, sub-canals, and distributaries used for irrigation. Additionally, the WRD will now handle the strengthening of embankments and drainage work in waterlogged areas and 'chaurs' (low-lying flood-prone fields). Previously, these tasks were implemented by the Rural Development Department under the MGNREGA umbrella.
Immediate Actions and Deadlines
Following the decisions, WRD Principal Secretary Santosh Kumar Mall issued urgent directives to his department's engineers and officials. They have been instructed to prepare a panchayat-wise list of schemes that were previously under MGNREGA, complete with cost estimates.
This list must be prepared and submitted to the concerned District Magistrates (DMs) and District Programme Officers by January 20. This tight deadline is crucial to ensure these projects can be included in the annual MGNREGA programme list before the cut-off date of January 31.
Ensuring Oversight and Accountability
To maintain momentum and transparency, Principal Secretary Mall also directed the WRD's Chief Engineers for irrigation and flood to personally monitor the ongoing scheme work being executed by the Executive Engineers. They have been mandated to send weekly progress reports directly to the department headquarters. This move aims to ensure efficient implementation and timely completion of the transferred infrastructure projects under the new VB-G-RAM-G framework.
This restructuring signifies a move towards specialized departmental execution of technical water management works, while the core rural employment guarantee focus of MGNREGA continues under the reformed programme.
