Workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) resorted to block-level protests, along with CPI (M) members, on Tuesday, alleging that wage arrears were not settled.
K. Subramaniam, a senior functionary in the All India Agricultural Workers Union’s district committee, said large numbers of workers across the district were confronted with the irregularities in the implementation of MGNREGS scheme in the district which in turn resulted in them not getting wages properly for the past many months.
The CPI (M) members also raised the allegations that some workers did not get wages for almost six months. “Many of them who got the wages did not get the same at the stipulated scales”.
The workers further accused that the officials were compelling them to start the work at 7 a.m and carry on the duty for close to 11 hours even though the stipulated duration was eight hours.
Rural development officials slammed the agitation held on the day as one ‘organised for dubious reasons’.
“We have disbursed the wages of all workers in the district till March 31, 2017. As of now there were no arrears. The same has been communicated as a reply to CPI (M) for the memorandum which the party gave us a few days back alleging that wage arrears exist running into six months or even more in the district”, officials clarified.
