Prakasam district under drought conditions, officials takes steps

    District Collector V. Vinay Chand on Wednesday exhorted officials to prepare shelf of works to provide wage employment to labourers for 150 days as drought situation prevailed in 55 of the 56 mandals in the district.

“Drought has been declared in 37 mandals and a notification is expected to add 18 more mandals shortly based on the report submitted by the district administration,” he said.

Drought has gripped the entire district but for Chirala mandal.

The Collector asked the constituency special officers and Mandal Parishad Development Officers to create jobs of 2.50 crore mandays as against 2.09 crore mandays of work provided so far to extend wage employment to about 1.50 lakh households before March-end.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was very particular in enhancing the average wage payment to at least Rs. 165 per day as against Rs. 134 per day and increase the number of days from 53 days to the ideal 100 days, he said and wanted them to ensure payment to wage seekers within three days.

He noted that only 65% of the assets created under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) were geo-tagged and asked them to speed up the exercise.

The District Collector asked them to expedite completion of the pending 24,500 farm ponds, 5,067 vermicast pits, 4,777 individual household sanitary latrines (IHSLs), 591 burial grounds and 640 cattle troughs well before close of the current fiscal.