Hoshiarpur- It is the duty of all the officials sitting on constitutional posts and the governments elected by the people to get the MNREGA Act 2005 fully implemented. Regarding the implementation of MNREGA work in village Kila Brun, Pradhan Jai Gopal Dhiman, MNREGA Mate Charanjit Kaur and Sarpanch Gram Panchayat Harjinder Kaur led by MNREGA workers movement met the Additional Deputy Commissioner and Additional District Program Coordinator and told them that the work in the village has been stopped for some time, while there are many people in the village who are getting development work done.
He said that MNREGA is an act, that is, a law. It has been seen many times that due to political pressure at the lower level, orders are issued at the lower level, due to which the whole situation gets complicated. Dhiman said that all the sections of MNREGA Act 2005 are not being implemented in practice, which is causing problems. The poor MNREGA workers are bearing the brunt of this.
It is sad that the rules made in the last 20 years regarding MNREGA are not being implemented and neither are the block level officers showing any interest in implementing them. According to the rules, MNREGA workers have to make arrangements for shade, drinking water etc. at the work place. There should be a provision for first aid.
Usually in villages, Gram Rozgar Sevak and Assistant Project Officer can easily go to the fields and get the work done. But due to lack of interest, everything is going on on foot. It was also brought to our notice that every Panchayat member wants to give priority to getting the work done by keeping his favourites happy, but on the contrary, it is clearly stated in the Act that every worker has to be given 100 days of guaranteed work without any discrimination. Whereas no one is above the law.
But many Chaudharys are still committing atrocities in the fields by adopting undemocratic methods. Dhiman said that the Punjab government is harming the development of Punjab villages by not implementing the Act and no benefit is being taken from the allocated budget. How ridiculous it has become that the work of MNREGA is being turned into fights and disputes.
This benefit is going into the pockets of a few corrupt people. What is even more important is that the staff of the higher officials has also been reduced, due to which the whole structure has become entangled. This is the reason why the work is not getting completed on time. Many times the officials do not get time to eat and when will they reach the common people in the villages. Due to the willfulness of the block level officials in the work of MNREGA, the money of MNREGA is not being used properly.
This is the reason why the right of MNREGA workers to 100 days of guaranteed work is also being blocked. Dhiman demanded from the government that work should be done on priority basis in village Kila Brun. On this occasion, Harbhajan Kaur, Gurdeep Singh (Pancha), Sukhvir Singh, Gurnam Singh Singrivan, Tarsem Lal, Manjit Lal, Yograj, Gulshan Kumar, Usha Rani, Lakshmi Devi, Mohinder Kaur and Sunita etc. were present.