MGNREGS workers demand payment of wages
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 19 2020:
The Committee Against The Gross Misappropriation of MGNREGS Fund for Tulihal Gram Panchayat have demanded for payment of wages to workers of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) of Keirao Bitra Block, Tulihal GP.
Alleging that the elected members of the GP are working together for personal monetary gain, the press release states that the MGNREGS workers of Tulihal GP have been deprived of their wages which is overdue for a long period of time.
It further alleged that instead of depositing the wages for the years 2017-18, 2018-29 and 2019-20 into the bank accounts of the workers, the wages were deposited to accounts opened by Pradhan and Ward Members in connivance with some Government officials, it stated.
During this time of immense hardship, the workers have been demanding for their wages, only to fall on deaf ears, following which, 400 MGNREGS workers formed the Committee Against The Gross Misappropriation of MGNREGS Fund for Tulihal Gram Panchayat in May.
Subsequently, a meeting of the Committee in the presence of the Gram Panchayat's representatives along with Md Azad Khan who is the younger brother of the current Pradhan Md Abdul Khaliq was held and an agreement was signed, where Md Azad Khan admitted to the misappropriation of the funds and promised to pay the wages of the workers.
However, Md Azad Khan is not seen in locality anymore.
The committee has therefore drawn the attention of the Government and concerned authorities to look into the matter and punish the wrong-doers.
It has also demanded that the wages be deposited into the MGNREGS workers' accounts and warned that strong actions will be taken if their demand is not met.