Demand for unemployment allowance met for the first time in State
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 09 2013 : Members of the Ucheckon Nongchup RTI Nupi Lup have become the first group who get unemployment allowance under MGNREGS in the State.

In a press conference held today at the office of Macha Leima, Palace Compound, Ucheckon Nongchup RTI Nupi Lup member Konsam Bijaya said, under the guidelines of MGNREGS, there is a provision of giving unemployment allowance to a job card holder if the implementing agency fails to arrange work for the job card holder within 15 days of his/her application for work.

She said, in November 2010, members of Ucheckon Nongchup RTI Lup went to the place of the local Pradhan to submit an application seeking work under the Central Government sponsored scheme.

However, the Pradhan denied to receive the application informing the job card holders that there was no work under the scheme at that time, Bijaya added.

She further said that the job card holders then went to the Panchayat Secretary's office and submitted the application.

As the job card holders were not provided work within 15 days, 13 complainants lodged a complaint at MGNREGS Ombudsman on January 15, 2011 .

After perusing the complaint, the Ombudsman directed the authority concerned to give unemployment allowance to the complainants, Bijaya said.

However, the complainants had to petition the Court in August 2011 with legal assistance from the Human Rights Law Network regarding the matter as the allowance was not cleared in time.

Despite the Court's decree, the authority concerned did not pay the amount to the complainants, Bijaya said.

Peeved with the lackadaisical attitude of the authority, the complainants again filed another complaint at the Court in July 2012 .

Following the complainant, the BDO told them that the allowance would be remitted to the accounts of the job card holders opened at post office.

In August 2012, the complainants however found that the total allowance amount of the 13 complainants was remitted to a single account.

The matter was again complained to the BDO seeking the officer to distribute the amount to the account of the 13 complainants.

It was only on January 26 this year that the complainants received the unemployment allowance of Rs 1584 each in their respective accounts thereby becoming the first instance of getting the allowance in the State.

Bijaya also urged the job card holders of the State to demand their rights if the implementing agency fails to provide work within 15 days of their application.

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