MGNREGA Rally
2.6 هزار بار بازدید -
14 سال پیش
-
Angered by the poor implementation
Angered by the poor implementation of the MGNREGA scheme the largest association of workers in Punjab, the NREGA Workers' Union has threatened to stop work if the state government does not pay heed to their demands. The call came from streets of Delhi last week where thousands had gathered to protest and march to the parliament.
"I have come all the way to Delhi to demand my rights and I will not leave until I get them," said a determined Manjit Kaur from Mansa District, in the capital on 31st March 2011 to give testimony of the corrupt practices of the implementing authorities which keep her and others like her from getting their due.
Thousands of women and men poured into the capital on trains and buses. Some rested on the streets next to the Gurudwaras overnight before joining the march next morning, many marched straight from the railway station and bus depots to the parliament street. The venue of the protest itself was flooded with blue flags and slogans of a people who looked restless despite the long tiring journey.
Poor implementation of the much feted scheme that is a lifeline for some of the poorest communities leaves them in a lurch without food or livelihood and pushes them into debt trap, often getting sucked into bonded labour.
The instances of these violations of the people's right to work under the scheme vary from Panchayat heads and Panchayat secretaries denying receipt of application for work, withholding the job cards, banks and post offices turning down requests for opening of account to a job card holder, being wrongfully charged for the photographs for the job cards and lack of even basic facilities mandated under the Act, like crèches.
"We do not even have basic facilities like clean drinking water and toilets at the worksite, let alone crèches for women who have to bring along their children," said Sukhwinder Kaur of Karantal District, a member of the Union.
"The price rise affects us much more than anyone else and yet our wages under the scheme have been reduced instead of it being increased," added Jasjit Singh. A recent notification of Government of India on 14th February 2011 further aggrieved the MGNREGA workers, wherein, the wage fixed for MGNREGA workers in the state of Punjab is Rs. 124, while it is Rs. 179 for the neighbouring state of Haryana, Rs. 174 for Chandigarh and in the scheduled areas of Himachal Pradesh it is Rs. 150.
"We will be handing over a memorandum to the Prime Minister and if there are no concrete steps taken then we will all go collectively to the neighbouring state of Haryana to ask for work," said Jai Singh, President of the NREGA Workers' Union in Punjab.
The union and daily wage workers' key demands include timely payments, adequate job cards, action against corruption among Panchayat heads and an increase in daily wage under the scheme to Rs. 250, apart from proper implementation of all the basic facilities mandated under the Act.
"I have come all the way to Delhi to demand my rights and I will not leave until I get them," said a determined Manjit Kaur from Mansa District, in the capital on 31st March 2011 to give testimony of the corrupt practices of the implementing authorities which keep her and others like her from getting their due.
Thousands of women and men poured into the capital on trains and buses. Some rested on the streets next to the Gurudwaras overnight before joining the march next morning, many marched straight from the railway station and bus depots to the parliament street. The venue of the protest itself was flooded with blue flags and slogans of a people who looked restless despite the long tiring journey.
Poor implementation of the much feted scheme that is a lifeline for some of the poorest communities leaves them in a lurch without food or livelihood and pushes them into debt trap, often getting sucked into bonded labour.
The instances of these violations of the people's right to work under the scheme vary from Panchayat heads and Panchayat secretaries denying receipt of application for work, withholding the job cards, banks and post offices turning down requests for opening of account to a job card holder, being wrongfully charged for the photographs for the job cards and lack of even basic facilities mandated under the Act, like crèches.
"We do not even have basic facilities like clean drinking water and toilets at the worksite, let alone crèches for women who have to bring along their children," said Sukhwinder Kaur of Karantal District, a member of the Union.
"The price rise affects us much more than anyone else and yet our wages under the scheme have been reduced instead of it being increased," added Jasjit Singh. A recent notification of Government of India on 14th February 2011 further aggrieved the MGNREGA workers, wherein, the wage fixed for MGNREGA workers in the state of Punjab is Rs. 124, while it is Rs. 179 for the neighbouring state of Haryana, Rs. 174 for Chandigarh and in the scheduled areas of Himachal Pradesh it is Rs. 150.
"We will be handing over a memorandum to the Prime Minister and if there are no concrete steps taken then we will all go collectively to the neighbouring state of Haryana to ask for work," said Jai Singh, President of the NREGA Workers' Union in Punjab.
The union and daily wage workers' key demands include timely payments, adequate job cards, action against corruption among Panchayat heads and an increase in daily wage under the scheme to Rs. 250, apart from proper implementation of all the basic facilities mandated under the Act.
14 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1390/01/17 منتشر شده
است.
2,669
بـار بازدید شده