Not getting adequate work under rural job scheme: Hansi workers

Deepender Deswal

Hisar/Sirsa, July 2

Workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at Beed Farm village near Hansi in Hisar district have alleged that they were not getting adequate work. There are a total of 400 such workers in the village and most of them have been idle as there is hardly any work in the village or adjoining villages.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

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Similarly, workers at Jogiwala village in Sirsa district protested at the Block Development and Panchayat Office at Nathusari Chopta in Sirsa district on Monday, seeking work.

I got work for just nine days in the last one year (as against the mandatory 100 days of work) and for that too, I am yet to get the payment. — Gulab Singh, Jogiwala village (Sirsa)

Gulab Singh, a worker, said he had got work for just nine days in the last one year and he was yet to get the payment for that. Another worker Kavita claimed that JCB machines were being used, leaving no work for them.

Arun Bhoria, sarpanch of Beed Farm village, admitted that the village had little work for MGNREGS workers. “We have been allocating work to them in adjoining villages. We will try to allocate the mandatory work days to each worker in 365 days,” he said.

Narender Rajli, who leads the worker’ association in Hisar district, alleged discrimination in the allocation of works. “Workers in villages like Rajli, Kharak Punia, Dhad, Balak, Pabra, Bithmara and Jewra are getting more work. On the other hand, workers in Sulkhani, Dhani Prem Nagar, Panghal, Dhani Khan Bahadur, Bahbalpur villages are not getting adequate work,” he said. Rajli said that on an average, MGNREGS workers in Hisar were getting about 60 days of work in a year as against the stipulated 100 days of work.

A district official associated with the scheme, however, said that there had been a significant hike in the wages for the workers in Haryana. “Haryana has the highest wage of Rs 374 per day in the country. Thus, workers have been scrambling for work under the scheme,” said an official in Hisar.

An official in Sirsa district, while requesting anonymity, said workers of Jogiwala village were also demanding the work of cleaning a canal outside the village. “However, workers of the adjoining village have staked claim to the work on that portion of the canal as it falls in their village,” he said, claiming that there was adequate work for the workers.