Jajpur, July 30: After the controversy over malnutrition at Nagada village in the mineral-rich Sukinda block hogged media attention, the government has finally woken up.

A whole 11 years after the scheme was launched, the district administration is finally on the verge of preparing a blueprint to launch the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) at the village.

Nineteen children from the village died of malnutrition in the past three months.

The centrally-funded scheme, launched by the erstwhile UPA government, provides 100 days guaranteed employment to any household whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work in rural areas.

District officials blamed the area's inaccessibility for failure to implement welfare schemes.

"People of Nagada could not be covered under MGNREGA and other government welfare schemes because of the lack of road network to the village, which is located on a hilltop. We are grateful to the media for highlighting the issue. Many problems of the tribal people here are being addressed after the media brought their plight into focus," said district collector Satya Kumar Malik.

He said the district administration was making preparations to cover all eligible people under the scheme and would shortly provide them with job cards.

"We have started taking steps to provide them with Aadhaar cards as well so that they can avail of all government benefits in a transparent manner," said Malik.

The state government has already formed a task force to ensure all-round development of Nagada after criticism following the death of the children. The village is inhabited by over 400 residents of the primitive Juang tribe, including 127 children, belonging to 56 families.

"MGNREGA is meant for the poorest section of society, especially those living in rural areas, who don't have land or means of livelihood. The inhabitants here are poor, illiterate and have no source of livelihood except daily-wage earning. It is an irony that after so many years of its inception, the scheme has not reached Nagada, which is part of a coastal district rich in minerals and home to several industries," said food campaign activist Prasant Kumar Sahu.

The village has no roads, health sub-centre or fair-price shop or electricity. The villagers have to trek more than 15km through a dense forest to reach a motorable road.

The district administration, however, has installed 10 solar streetlights in the village.