Report submitted to the Rural Development Department by G A Qureshi, former Director General of Economics and Statistics Organization, now a State Level Monitor of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) categorically says that the Ladakh and Kargil Developmental Councils are unable to meet the 10 per cent of matching budget to the MGNREGA scheme owing to very limited funds at the disposal of the Councils concerned. That is the reason why the scheme has not been fully implemented in Kargil and Ladakh regions. During 2011-12 financial year an expenditure of Rs 5.83 crore was registered under the scheme against the allocation of Rs 5.95 crore in Leh district while as out of Rs 11.85 crore allocation, an amount of Rs 11.66 crore was expended under the scheme in Kargil district. This indicates how both the districts are keen to derive benefit of the scheme but not obtaining the same because of limitations in meeting matching share. The recommendation is that the matching share of 10 per cent should be met by the State out of its overall annual budget. Other two important recommendations made by Qureshi are that a mechanism has to be evolved to make payment of daily wagers from far off areas easy at their respective places instead of issuing cheques. Secondly, it has to be noted that there is limited period of development in this snow bound area in a year. As such funds should be released for developmental work along with the passing of annual budget by the LA.
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