Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Rs 560 crore would be incurred in the state during 2008-09 so that ample employment opportunities could be generated in rural areas and poor people would not have to go to towns in search of work. The Chief Minister was addressing panches, sarpanches and numberdars of Karnal district after launching the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at the Karan Stadium in Karnal. He also released a book published by Haryana Rural Development Institute, Nilokheri, about the NREGS. Hooda said the NREGS had been implemented in all remaining 16 districts of the state. Earlier, it was implemented only in four districts of Haryana. He said under the scheme, employment of a minimum 100 days would be ensured in a year and a sum of Rs 135 per day would be given to as wages. He made it clear that if the employment opportunities could not be made available to a person within 15 days after registration, unemployment allowance would be given to him. The Chief Minister assured that paucity of funds would not come in the way as under the programme a sum of Rs 1,000 crore could be incurred by optimum utilisation of the scheme. YAMUNANAGAR: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was launched at the Tejli Sports Stadium here on Tuesday. Krishan Pandit, local MLA and parliamentary secretary, while launching the scheme, said the scheme would go a long way in improving the economic condition of rural unemployed persons. The unemployed rural persons could approach their gram panchayat or the BDPO to avail of the benefits, said Pandit. Works to be taken up during the scheme included water harvesting, plantation and digging and repair of water bodies, said Narinder Singh, additional deputy commissioner and CEO of the district rural development agency. JHAJJAR: Haryana Assembly Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian on Tuesday urged people not to be misguided by the "nefarious campaign' of the opposition as the governments in the state and at the centre were working for the betterment of the people. Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the launch of the employment guarantee scheme in Jhajjar district, Kadian said this scheme of the central government was the brainchild of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He said this scheme would not only provide guaranteed employment to the jobless but also ameliorate the financial status of people living below the poverty line. FATEHABAD: Dura Ram, parliamentary secretary, Haryana, on Tuesday inaugurated the employment guarantee scheme in this district by starting work on digging a pond in Dhangar village. Deputy commissioner O.P. Sheoran and ADC C.G. Rajnikanthan were present on the occasion.