Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 73,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'catslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 73,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'catslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 74,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 74,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;NREGS&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 7140
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;NREGS&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br /><br />Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br /><br />A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br /><br />In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br /><br />NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br /><br />In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br /><br />At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br /><br />The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br /><br />Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br /><br />Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br /><br />Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br /><br />In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br /><br />On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br /><br />Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br /><br />&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br /><br />Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br /><br /><em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$maxBufferLength = (int) 8192
$file = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php'
$line = (int) 853
$message = 'Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853'
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Code Context
            $response->getStatusCode(),

            ($reasonPhrase ? ' ' . $reasonPhrase : '')

        ));
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;NREGS&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 7140
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;NREGS&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br /><br />Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br /><br />A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br /><br />In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br /><br />NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br /><br />In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br /><br />At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br /><br />The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br /><br />Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br /><br />Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br /><br />Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br /><br />In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br /><br />On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br /><br />Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br /><br />&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br /><br />Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br /><br /><em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$reasonPhrase = 'OK'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitStatusLine() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 54
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Code Context
                    $value

                ), $first);

                $first = false;
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr680de864e8bf7-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;NREGS&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 7140,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 7237,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 7140
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;NREGS&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It&#039;s that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village &#039;saran sthal&#039; (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar&#039;s hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Construction of this road in Latehar&#039;s Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &amp;quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will the district administration act against the contractor? &amp;quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&amp;quot; he says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Gumla&#039;s Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &amp;quot;We are yet to get a reply,&amp;quot; says one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &amp;quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum&#039;s fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&amp;quot; says a villager.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Latehar&#039;s Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can&#039;t resume work till he pays up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &amp;quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&amp;quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn&#039;t returned since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The case wasn&#039;t reported to the police. &amp;quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&amp;quot; says a villager of Gumla&#039;s Bishunpur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand&#039;s 24 districts are Maoist-affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &amp;quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar&#039;s Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey&#039;s son, was also a suspect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &amp;quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&amp;quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&amp;quot; says a district official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br /><br />Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br /><br />A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br /><br />In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br /><br />NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br /><br />In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br /><br />At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br /><br />The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br /><br />Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br /><br />Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br /><br />Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br /><br />In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br /><br />On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br /><br />Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br /><br />&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br /><br />Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br /><br /><em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$cookies = []
$values = [
	(int) 0 => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
]
$name = 'Content-Type'
$first = true
$value = 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitHeaders() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 55
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

<head>

    <link rel="canonical" href="<?php echo Configure::read('SITE_URL'); ?><?php echo $urlPrefix;?><?php echo $article_current->category->slug; ?>/<?php echo $article_current->seo_url; ?>.html"/>

    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

$viewFile = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp'
$dataForView = [
	'article_current' => object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		'id' => (int) 7140,
		'title' => 'Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty',
		'subheading' => '',
		'description' => '<div align="justify">
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br />
<br />
Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br />
<br />
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br />
<br />
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br />
<br />
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br />
<br />
In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br />
<br />
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br />
<br />
In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br />
<br />
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br />
<br />
The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br />
<br />
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br />
<br />
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br />
<br />
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br />
<br />
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br />
<br />
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br />
<br />
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br />
<br />
&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br />
<br />
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br />
<br />
<em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br />
</div>',
		'credit_writer' => 'The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms',
		'article_img' => '',
		'article_img_thumb' => '',
		'status' => (int) 1,
		'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
		'lang' => 'EN',
		'category_id' => (int) 16,
		'tag_keyword' => '',
		'seo_url' => 'villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237',
		'meta_title' => null,
		'meta_keywords' => null,
		'meta_description' => null,
		'noindex' => (int) 0,
		'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		'most_visit_section_id' => null,
		'article_big_img' => null,
		'liveid' => (int) 7237,
		'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'edate' => '',
		'tags' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		'[new]' => false,
		'[accessible]' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'[dirty]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[original]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[virtual]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[hasErrors]' => false,
		'[errors]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[invalid]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[repository]' => 'Articles'
	
	},
	'articleid' => (int) 7140,
	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty',
	'metaKeywords' => 'NREGS',
	'metaDesc' => '
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br /><br />Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br /><br />A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br /><br />In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br /><br />NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br /><br />In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br /><br />At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br /><br />The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br /><br />Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br /><br />Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br /><br />Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br /><br />In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br /><br />On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br /><br />Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br /><br />&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br /><br />Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br /><br /><em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br /></div>',
	'lang' => 'English',
	'SITE_URL' => 'https://im4change.in/',
	'site_title' => 'im4change',
	'adminprix' => 'admin'
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	'id' => (int) 7140,
	'title' => 'Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<div align="justify">
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br />
<br />
Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br />
<br />
Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br />
<br />
Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br />
<br />
A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br />
<br />
In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br />
<br />
NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br />
<br />
In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br />
<br />
At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br />
<br />
The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br />
<br />
Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br />
<br />
Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br />
<br />
Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br />
<br />
In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br />
<br />
On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br />
<br />
Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br />
<br />
&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br />
<br />
Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br />
<br />
<em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br />
</div>',
	'credit_writer' => 'The Times of India, 18 April, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Villagers-see-Red-over-NREGA/articleshow/8010009.cms',
	'article_img' => '',
	'article_img_thumb' => '',
	'status' => (int) 1,
	'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
	'lang' => 'EN',
	'category_id' => (int) 16,
	'tag_keyword' => '',
	'seo_url' => 'villagers-see-red-over-nrega-by-rakhi-chakrabarty-7237',
	'meta_title' => null,
	'meta_keywords' => null,
	'meta_description' => null,
	'noindex' => (int) 0,
	'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	'most_visit_section_id' => null,
	'article_big_img' => null,
	'liveid' => (int) 7237,
	'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'edate' => '',
	'tags' => [
		(int) 0 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	'[new]' => false,
	'[accessible]' => [
		'*' => true,
		'id' => false
	],
	'[dirty]' => [],
	'[original]' => [],
	'[virtual]' => [],
	'[hasErrors]' => false,
	'[errors]' => [],
	'[invalid]' => [],
	'[repository]' => 'Articles'

}
$articleid = (int) 7140
$metaTitle = 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty'
$metaKeywords = 'NREGS'
$metaDesc = '
It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi.<br /><br />Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. &quot;The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Will the district administration act against the contractor? &quot;Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded,&quot; he says.<br /><br />Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too.<br /><br />A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off.<br /><br />In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. &quot;We are yet to get a reply,&quot; says one of them.<br /><br />NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. &quot;Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other,&quot; says a villager.<br /><br />In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up.<br /><br />At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. &quot;A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay,&quot; claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then.<br /><br />The case wasn't reported to the police. &quot;If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers,&quot; says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur.<br /><br />Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected.<br /><br />Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say.<br /><br />Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, &quot;Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh.&quot;<br /><br />In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect.<br /><br />On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. &quot;There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house,&quot; says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers.<br /><br />Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer.<br /><br />&quot;Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers,&quot; says a district official.<br /><br />Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official.<br /><br /><em>(Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named) </em><br /></div>'
$lang = 'English'
$SITE_URL = 'https://im4change.in/'
$site_title = 'im4change'
$adminprix = 'admin'

include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51

Villagers see Red over NREGA by Rakhi Chakrabarty

It's that time of the year when Jharkhand celebrates the Sarhul festival. As saal trees sprout new leaves and blossom in leafless forests, tribals troop to the village 'saran sthal' (place to pray) to worship nature. White and red striped flags flutter along a cratered road snaking through Latehar's hilly terrain, from Rajdanda to Barahi. Construction of this road in Latehar's Mahuadanr block, around 120km from Ranchi, began last year. After villagers complained about the road, a district official asked an activist to check. "The contractor had layered the road with barely half an inch of asphalt," he says. Will the district administration act against the contractor? "Unlikely. Rogue contractors warn those against them that they would be six-inch chhota (shorter), that is, beheaded," he says. Villagers allege a nexus between contractors, district officials and jungle sarkar (the Maoists). They have a strong grip on NREGA projects, too. A recent survey found contractors or middlemen being chosen as NREGA mates due to ignorance and vested interests of the gram panchayat sevak. In many cases, the work remains undone but the money is siphoned off. In Gumla's Helta panchayat, a group of villagers applied to the RTI official in March to know the status of about a dozen unfinished NREGA projects and the money spent on them since 2006. "We are yet to get a reply," says one of them. NREGA had raised hopes in food insecure rural Jharkhand crippled due to poor road connectivity, electricity and water crisis. Soon reality hit hard. "Earlier, we were like a dheki (used to pound rice), only the administration exploited us. Now, we suffer a drum's fate, the administration beats us on one side and the Maoists on the other," says a villager. In Latehar's Dohrikona, construction of a check dam was stalled. Maoists allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh but the villager working on the scheme could pay just Rs 20,000. He can't resume work till he pays up. At Helta, villagers talk about college student, Arun Kujur. He was supervising the construction of a drainage canal, an NREGA project. "A Maoist splinter group demanded 10% levy. Arun refused to pay," claims a villager. The rebels shot at him. Arun escaped unhurt and left the village. He hasn't returned since then. The case wasn't reported to the police. "If we complain, the jungle sarkar (Maoists) will kill us for being police informers," says a villager of Gumla's Bishunpur. Wealth from Jharkhand, weapons from Orissa, brain from Andhra Pradesh and foot soldiers from Chhattisgarh sustain the Maoists, says an expert. Eighteen out of Jharkhand's 24 districts are Maoist-affected. Villagers rattle off a list of people to be bribed to secure an NREGA project: panchayat sewak must be paid 5% of the project cost, rozgar sewak 2%, block programme officer 2%, computer operator at panchayat office 2%, engineer or overseer 5% and BDO and his staff 5%. For a project more than Rs 5 lakh, Maoists extort a 10-15% levy, they say. Stan Swamy, Ranchi-based human rights activist and strident critic of anti-Maoist Operation Greenhunt, says, "Contrary to rules, NREGA projects were being handed out to contractors. For a Rs 20 lakh project, the contractor gets a discreet note from the Maoists asking to pay Rs 2 lakh." In February, activist Niyamat Ansari and his colleagues exposed a Rs 2.5 lakh NREGA scam in Latehar's Rankikalan gram panchayat leading to the arrest of Kailash Sahu, former BDO of Manika block, and Basudev Nagesia, panchayat sewak. Babloo Dubey, local contractor Shankar Dubey's son, was also a suspect. On March 2, a Maoist squad thrashed Niyamat near his house at Jerua village. "There were about 10-12 of them carrying guns and sticks. The Dubeys showed them our house," says Syeda Biwi. Later, Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder alleging Niyamat was not a whistleblower but a conduit between timber mafia and villagers. Maoists and six splinter groups in Jharkhand earn Rs 75-100 crore per year as levy from mines, private industries, public sector units and construction work, says a senior state police officer. "Contractors earn higher profits if they pay the Maoists. The contractor uses the Maoist bogey to scare away officials supervising construction. The quality of work suffers," says a district official. Poor monitoring is affecting NREGA projects. In 2010-2011, five out of nine blocks in Latehar did not have BDOs, says an official. (Villagers requested anonymity as they feared they would be targeted if named)