MNREGA job card holders allege use of machines

National Level Monitor Jagdish Kumar,who is looking into the allegations of irregularities in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Punjab.

National Level Monitor Jagdish Kumar,who is looking into the allegations of irregularities in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Punjab,paid a field visit to the offices of various block development and panchayat officers and villages on Thursday.

Appointed by the Centre to probe the allegations levelled in a complaint lodged by Jalandhar District Youth Congress president Vikramjit Singh,Kumar visited Bhogpur and Phillaur blocks and the gram panchayats of Ittanbaddi,Dhamuli,Loharan,Ramgarh,Gurha and a few other places. He also recorded the statements of MNREGA job card holders.

At Dhamuli village in Bhogpur block,the job card holders alleged that a ditch machine was used to clean the pond,instead of employing them,which was a violation of the MNREGA,which bans use of machines for work that can be done by labourers. The card holders alleged that they were not provided any unemployment allowance either.

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Job card holders from Gurha village and Indira Colony in Phillaur block told Kumar that they had been demanding job for a long time but the authorities were not paying any heed.

They submitted their complaints in writing,citing the date of their applications and the period for which work was demanded. When contacted,Jagdish Kumar did not comment on the ditch machine,stating that he would say everything in his report.

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