Dharamshala, June 26 -- Himachal Pradesh rural development and panchayati raj minister, Anirudh Singh, on Thursday criticised the Centre's decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme as 'VB-G RAM G' and introduce a new funding and implementation framework, saying the changes would impose a substantial financial burden on the state. State government will continue to press the Centre to provide special exemptions in view of Himachal's geographical and financial constraints, he added. Singh chairs the high-level committee, constituted by the Himachal government, to conduct a detailed study of the scheme and make recommendations in the interest of the hill state. "The MGNREGA scheme was earlier fully funded by Centre and was demand-driven, but under the new arrangement the funding pattern for Himachal and other special category states has changed to 90:10. This will place an additional annual burden of about Rs.164.63 crore on state," Singh said, while addressing media persons in Shimla. He claimed that around Rs.20 Crore in salaries and administrative expenses for Gram Rozgar Sevaks (GRSs), computer operators and junior accountants had been pending since February. "Nearly 1,194 MGNREGA staff members have not received payments because the Centre has not released the pending funds despite repeated requests and meetings," he said.htc...