New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS): Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked chief ministers of six states to motivate people to seek work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

In a letter to the chief ministers, he asked them to personally lead this effort and extend it to all districts of their states, an official release said here Wednesday.

The minister's letter follows the launch of a special "Kaam Maango Abhiyan (seek work campaign)" to proactively register demand for work in select districts of the country.

The statement said the rural development ministry recognises that the decline in people demanding work under the MGNREGS is not because of a lack of demand but because of a failure to capture demand effectively.

Jairam Ramesh asked the chief ministers to use the opportunity to motivate all stakeholders in realising the benefits conferred under the MGNREGS and create good models that can benefit a large number of poor households.

At present, the focus of the campaign will be on six districts in the country - Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh), Nashik (Maharashtra), Raichur (Karnataka), Katihar (Bihar), West Singhbum (Jharkhand) and Sundergarh (Odisha).

This will present a model for a nationwide campaign that will be launched Feb 2, 2014.

The campaign will be a collaborative effort with district, state and central governments and MGNREGS workers besides the civil society.

The MGNREGS guarantees the right to work in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.