Tuesday, December 21 2004 20:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Government today (Dec 21, 2004) introduced a Bill in Lok Sabha aimed at providing a minimum 100 days assured employment to poor families in rural areas.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill was introduced by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who said the measure would go a long way in benefiting poor families in rural areas.

The Bill aims at providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to every poor household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

"The State Government shall, in such rural areas in the State and for such period as may be notified by the Central Government, provide to every household guaranteed wage employment.

"Every State Government shall, within six months from the date of commencement of this legislation, prepare a scheme to give effect to the guarantee proposed under the legislation," the statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said.

It further said if an eligible applicant was not provided work as per the provisions, it would be obligatory on the part of the State Government to pay "unemployment allowance" at the prescribed rate.

The Bill said the wage rate would be specified by the Central Government, adding "until such time a wage rate is specified for an area, the minimum wage rate fixed by the State Government under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for agricultural labourers shall be considered as the wage rate applicable to that area".