Agartala, Dec. 23 : The implementation of various schemes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has given a reason to smile to the people in Tripura, especially the poor in the State's rural areas.

The poor are happy to notice that under the NREGA, they are getting employment in the various developments schemes.

For instance, the road connectivity in Panisagar Block of north Tripura is likely to transform the lives of a lot of people, mostly of the tribal farmers.

The under construction road under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme (NREGA) has provided employment to the unemployed villagers, especially womenfolk..

Sajal Das, one NREGA beneficiary, said: "Earlier most of us were farmers while others use to collect firewood and bamboos from the forest. We would sell them in town. But the income was not adequate to maintain our families properly. Now due to NREGA, there is work round the year. We are happy because along with work lot of developmental activities are going on in our villages."

Lila Sutradhar, the village head, said: " Under the NREGA scheme, the poor villagers are very much benefited, as they get work and income. Simultaneously, we are also happy because we got very good quality roads due to which our village shall get well connected in terms of transport and communication. Our next scheme is creating water bodies which shall not only give us water but also income in the form of fisheries."

NREGA is contributing to various developmental works.

Kiran Kirti, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Dhamanagar, said: "Here the NREGA is contributing in terms of building roads, dams, water conservation in hilly areas and it's helping mainly the tribal people to earn their daily livelihood for making strong assets in their area. So, for Tripura, this scheme is very useful and very successful."

Seventy five per cent of the four crore rupees (400 million rupees) sanctioned under the NREGA scheme for Panisagar Block, has already been spent on development projects.

Besides rural connectivity through `Pucca'' roads, there are schemes for water conservation, harvesting, fisheries and micro irrigation projects in the area.

The state economy still rests on agriculture and agriculture related activities and most of the rural poor have to opt for daily-wage earning sources throughout the year. In such a situation, NREGA scheme has become instrumental in providing jobs to rural people. (ANI)