New Delhi, May 24: Kalyan Singh, the chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on the National Employment Guarantee Bill, has finally decided to convene a two-day meeting at the end of this month.

The Left parties in their one-year assessment of the UPA government had blamed the Centre for taking too much time to implement the bill, which they said would make a drastic difference to the lives of the poor.

The government, on its part, blamed Singh, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, and accused him of dragging his feet over the issue.

“The committee will begin to hear depositions from experts,” said CPI leader D. Raja. It will first study written representations and then hear oral depositions before finalising a report.

The National Employ ment Guarantee Bill ensures 100 days of employment for every rural household and covers 150 districts in the first phase. The Centre has already identified the districts.

The Left parties are unhappy with the bill because it does not specify the wage and leaves it open to the state governments to discontinue the scheme if it thinks fit. The Left, however, wants the act to apply to the entire country ? both rural and urban areas.

In his letter to Left committee members informing them of the date of the meeting, Singh conceded they should have met earlier but his party was “boycotting” Parliament and as a “disciplined soldier” of the BJP, he could not convene a meeting.

The committee will hear different points of view from experts, officials and NGOs. The bill has become a controversial issue because some policymakers, particularly in the Planning Commission, believe it will not be possible for the government to dredge up the resources required to fund the scheme.

But experts have been arguing that the scheme is financially feasible and all it requires is political will.

Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has told the Centre that his government will not be able to meet the provision of an unemployment dole which it will have to provide for every family in case it is unable to provide employment.

The Left wants the Centre to meet all the expenses, which include providing employment as well as the dole. The present act does not permit engaging contractors and says manual labour should be used as much as possible.

A group of activists belonging to the Peoples’ Action Committee for Employment Guarantee has been touring the country to generate awareness about the bill and mount pressure on the government to implement it.