: A well-known private bank and state government officials are literally slugging it out on every front after a dispute arose regarding payment of workers under the NREGA scheme.
The officials of the Rural Development Department of Rangareddy district had slapped a criminal case against the Axis Bank at Gandhinagar police station for misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 2 crore some weeks ago.
The bank was chosen to disburse the funds under the central government scheme for the district. Caught in the midst of it are the 25,000 workers who are yet to get their dues after toiling hard for projects pertaining to various land development projects in Rangareddy district.
It all began when the officials found out that a large number of workers had not received payments between April and June 2013. In a series of official mails (which are in possession of this newspaper) which began soon after, the district officials squarely blamed the bank for its inefficient fund monitoring system involving its various business correspondents.
The officials had asked the bank to disburse the amount meant for the employees but the higher officials of the bank conveyed through the mails that they were still working on the issue. The bank made a part-payment of a few lakhs in late 2013, however there was not much headway since then.
The officials had also requested the government not to have any business tie-ups with the bank in future.
“We have given them the complete list of the workers who had not been paid,” said C. Chandrakanth, Project Director, District Water Management Agency, Rangareddy district who is pursuing the case.
“We had asked them to show the proof in case they had made the payments. Till date, they could not do so and are indulging in time buying tactics. It is their responsibility to make sure that the payments reach the workers through proper channels. If they had failed to do so, they have to make that payment. The poor workers need to be paid with interest and we will fight till the case reaches a logical end,” Mr Chandrakanth said.
