In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
         (a) "adult" means a person who has completed his eighteenth years of age;
         (b) "applicant" means the head of a household or any of its other adult members who has applied for employment under the Scheme;
         (c) "Block" means a community development area within a district comprising a group of Gram Panchayats;
         (d) "Central Council" means the Central Employment Guarantee Council constituted under subsection (1) of section 10;
         (e) "District Programme Coordinator" means an officer of the State Government designated as such under sub-section (1) of section 14 for implementation of the Scheme in a district;
         (f) "household" means the members of a family related to each other by blood, marriage or adoption and normally residing together and sharing meals or holding a common ration card;
         (g)" implementing agency" includes any department of the Central Government or a State Government, a Zila Parishad, Panchayat at intermediate level, Gram Panchayat or any local authority or Government undertaking or non-governmental organisation authorised by the Central Government or the State Government to undertake the implementation of any work taken up under a Scheme;
         (h) "minimum wage", in relation to any area, means the minimum wage fixed by the State Government under section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948) for agricultural labourers as applicable in that area;
         (i) "National Fund" means the National Employment Guarantee Fund established under subsection (1) of section 20;
         (j) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
         (k) "preferred work" means any work which is taken up for implementation on a priority basis under a Scheme;
         (l) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
         (m) "Programme Officer" means an officer appointed under sub-section (1) of section 15 for implementing the Scheme;
         (n) 'project" means any work taken up under a Scheme for the purpose of providing employment to the applicants;
         (o) "rural area" means any area in a State except those areas covered by any urban local body or a Cantonment Board established or constituted under any law for the time being in force;
         (p) "Scheme" means a Scheme notified by the State Government under sub-section (1) of section4;
         (q) 'State Council" means the State Employment Guarantee Council constituted under subsection (1) of section 12;
         (r) 'unskilled manual work" means any physical work which any adult person is capable of doing without any skill or special training;
         (s) "wage rate" means the wage rate referred to in section 6.