In a major victory for the villagers who lost employment opportunities after the conversion of village panchayats into urban local bodies, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan has agreed to launch the urban employment guarantee scheme in 42 newly created Municipal Councils. The decision came over the week-end after a month-long agitation at Bhim in Rajsamand district.
The Local Self Government Department has issued orders for starting the guaranteed employment works in the new Municipal Councils, situated in 27 districts, by designating the nearest urban bodies as the in-charge for the task. The regular posts of officials for operating the scheme in the newly constituted municipal areas are yet to be created.
The works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme were stopped in the village panchayats converted into urban local bodies in July last year, posing a major challenge to the villagers who depended on the scheme for their livelihood. As the demand for restarting the works went unheeded even after the change of government in the State, the villagers started an indefinite dharna at Bhim in January-end.
