MGNREGA scheme in a mess in J&K

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 4

The Centre’s flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), continues to work on crutches in Jammu and Kashmir as the state owes a whopping liability of Rs 413 crore in terms of wages to labourers and the cost of material used for executing development works.

The state government has also violated the guidelines of MGNREGA regarding the payment of wages to labourers in the stipulated time as labourers have not been paid wages for the development works executed about six months ago.

The state government, however, claimed that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 375 crore under MGNREGA which would be released by the state finance department to clear the liabilities immediately after the reopening of the Durbar move offices in the summer capital of the state on May 9.

“The total liabilities of the state under the MGNREGA scheme are around Rs 413 crore. The Centre has provided the state nearly Rs 375 crore, which is with the finance department. Out of this, about Rs 170 crore has already been released while the remaining amount will be released to the district authorities for payment of wages to labourers and clearing other liabilities after the reopening of Durbar move offices in Srinagar,” a senior officer of the rural development department said.

Abdul Haq Khan, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, said they had received the money from the Centre and the department would soon clear the liabilities. “There were certain technical issues which delayed the process of clearing the liabilities. Apart from the amount received under MGNREGA, the Centre has also provided the state Rs 200 crore for other development activities in rural areas,” he said.

To a query about the violation of MGNREGA guidelines with regard to the payment of wages to labourers, the minister attributed the delay to “administrative matters” and non-availability of facility to transfer wages to the labourers electronically.

Pertinently, the scheme envisages the primary objective of enhancing the livelihood security of people by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

ML Raina, Director, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, Jammu, disclosed that the liabilities in 10 districts of the region were nearly Rs 300 crore. “The department has received the funds and we will ensure that the liabilities in terms of payment of wages to labourers are released soon.”

Anil Sharma, president, All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference, criticised the Central and the state governments for non-payment of wages to labourers within the stipulated time. “It is highly unfortunate that the guidelines of MGNREGA are being violated without any fear, causing hardship to the labourers. We request the Centre and the state government to ensure payment of wages to labourers within 15 days and fix the responsibility if any lapse is reported in future,” Sharma said.