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Presenting the budget proposals for 2005-06, the Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram has stated that the National Food for Work programme launched in November 2004, would now be converted into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Announcing this, the Minister said that for 2005-06, a provision of Rs. 5,400 crore for the cash component and 50 lakh MT of foodgrains have been made and, in overall terms, the allocation would increase to Rs. 11,000 crore as against the estimated expenditure of Rs. 4,020 crore during the year 2004-05. When fully rolled out, the scheme would provide livelihood security for crores of poor families, he said.
The Minister said that the Food Processing, Textile, Irrigation & IT sector are expected to be the hub for generating employment in the next five years and would receive the highest attention of the Government. Providing details of the employment potential, the Minister informed that the assured irrigation facilities to an additional one crore hectares of land over a period of five years would generate employment for an additional one crore people at the rate one person per hectare. The Textile Sector alone has the potential to create 1.2 crore jobs over the next five years, he added.
SB/MVVS/RKJ/VB/NSR
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