Friday, August 25 2006 17:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Over 83 lakh rural households have been given employment since the launch of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in February this year and eight states, including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, have constituted State Employment Guarantee Councils to oversee implementation of the programme.

This was stated by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in a suo motu statement in Parliament today (Aug 25, 2006).

The other states where such Councils have been constituted are Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tripura.

"Within a short period of six months, progress in the implementation has been very encouraging in spite of initial constraints of states in implementing this new legislation," Singh said.

He said nearly 2.55 crore job cards have been issued so far, entitling households to demand employment as per their need and choice.

Of these job card holders, nearly 90 lakh have demanded employment and 83 lakh already provided jobs. Of these, 21 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes, 46 per cent to Scheduled Tribes and 41 per cent are women.