Carrying forward the five-day long protest at Jantar Mantar against low budget, poor pay and delays in payment, the workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA) on Thursday staged a demonstration opposite the office of the Ministry of Labour.
The demonstration lasted about 30 minutes, which led to a meeting at the Ministry of Labour by Anuradha Talwar, a renowned social worker and women rights’activist who led the protest.
A group of people from the Morcha went to meet the Secretary for Rural Development to further press their demands. The workers are currently entitled to a wage of ₹192 per day within 15 days of doing the work.
The issue of technical glitches was also raised, as many workers faced inconvenience using their Aadhaar cards. According to a report by ‘Rethink Aadhaar’, several workers from Uttar Pradesh suddenly stopped receiving their wages, and upon enquiry, they found that their Aadhaar cards had become ‘inactive’. Later in the evening, many protesters were picked by the police.
