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NREGA workers get wages after 2 years -Jaideep Deogharia
-The Times of India


RANCHI: Labourers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) would have hardly imagined that a day would come when they would be paid their wages, which were pending for more than two years now.

As many as 91 labourers, who worked with the hope of supporting their families in the winter of 2010, were pleasantly surprised when they were paid not only their outstanding wages, but also a compensation of Rs 2000 each on Tuesday evening at Khunti collectorate in compliance with an order of the Jharkhand Labour Commission passed in August this year.

The commission not just directed immediate payment of pending wages but also ordered to realize the compensation payable to the labourers from block development officer, block programme officer, rozgar sevak and panchayat sevak. Taking together the wages and compensation payable to the workers, a net payment of Rs 5.17 lakh was made by an officer of the labour commission.

This is not the first time when the matter of non-payment of wages or delayed payment of wages to NREGA workers in Khunti district has come up. Earlier too, on three occasions, the labour court and commission had directed payments along with compensation. But the situation remains the same.

Umesh Kumar Prasad, deputy labour commissioner of Ranchi, said, "Under the provisions of NREGA, labourers are entitled to compensation in case of delayed or non-payment of wages. It is on the behest of the Union ministry of rural development that Nrega Sahayata Kendra (NSK) was started in Khunti. It supports the poor and illiterate villagers in claiming their rights," he said, confirming that the commission was waiting for the local administrative officials to deposit the said amount with the commission's office. This in turn was paid to the labourers.

Prasad, also the acting joint labour commissioner of Jharkhand, clarified that there were 132 unpaid units whereas the number of labourers were 91. "The work done in 'akhada se lekar kanchi nadi tak mitti muram path nirman' in Chota Baru village of Murhi was completed in three phases," he said.

Of the several workers who worked on this worksite in December 2010, fifty five of them were paid in parts after more than two years in June 2012 and the remaining did not receive any wages at all. In October 2012, eight workers worked on the worksite, but they too were not paid.

After the monsoon in 2012, officials agreed to pay the pending wages, but on the condition that workers first fill potholes which had developed on the road due to rains. Although the workers did the extra task, their payment was still not made.

The activists of NSK, Khunti finally lodged a complaint case with the labour court in March 2013, clearly stating that the labourers were not allowed to speak during social audit and public hearing organized by the district administration. "It's a victory of the labourers who toiled hard to earn a living, but had to continue their fight to claim their wages," said Vishwanth of NSK Khunti.