A special awareness campaign and job card melas are being held across Shirahatti taluk in Gadag district from August 15 to September 15 under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act to create employment opportunities for rural households in their villages.

As part of the campaign, job card melas were held at Kadakol, Rantur, and Majjur villages on Thursday, with Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) sensitising the public on the scheme aimed at providing employment opportunities for rural families.

Under the Information, Education and Communication activities, officials are visiting households in rural areas to identify families that require new job cards, facilitate the renewal of existing cards, and to complete e-KYC formalities, besides receiving employment applications.

Officials said that efforts were also being made to digitise workers’ attendance, monitor the progression of works, and to maintain related records. Ensuring that employment opportunities reach eligible families at their doorstep was one of the key objectives of the campaign, they said.

Residents seeking information on job cards, e-KYC and more have been advised to contact their respective gram panchayat offices. The scheme also seeks to reduce migration from rural areas to urban areas by providing employment within villages.

Information Education Coordinator Veeresh said that families with inactive job cards were being identified and contacted through door-to-door visits during the month-long campaign. Awareness was also being created regarding employment opportunities for unskilled persons and individual benefits available under the scheme.

Increasing the participation of vulnerable sections of rural communities and providing economic and livelihood security through employment generation were among the key objectives of the campaign, he said.

Priority would be given to work related to water conservation and groundwater recharge, as well as activities that could provide long-term livelihood support and help rural communities deal with drought conditions, Mr. Veeresh said. PDOs, technical personnel and other gram panchayat staff were present.

Published - August 21, 2026 07:21 pm IST