To mitigate drought and drought like situation and scarcity, Union Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari has ordered that 50 per cent of all works taken up by line agencies at district level should be for water conservation works like check dam construction, de-silting of traditional water bodies, minor irrigation tanks and canals. The decision has been taken in response to widespread criticism by Members of Parliament and people´s representatives at the local level that MGNREGA has become a source of corruption and that no productive assets are being created through the rural job scheme.