Taking serious note of the failure of the Maghalaya government's refusal for a year to ensure distribution of the Rs 52 crore promise by it in March 2020 under the Chief Minister’s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL), intended to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on unorganized sector workers, India's civil rights network National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has said it supports social activist Angela Rangad who has been on a protest sit-in at the gates of the Secretariat in Shillong on this.
Part of the Thma u Rangli (TUR) collective, Angela is seeking relief for domestic workers, street vendors, and daily wager workers. An RTI filed by TUR in November 2020 showed irregularities not only in registering the workers entitled to this cash transfer, but also in transferring the promised amount of INR 2,100, corresponding to compensation for three weeks.
"The disbursement of the Rs 5,000 intended for each labourer registered under the Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (MBOCWWB) is similarly pending and has failed to provide the necessary relief", an NAPM note said, regretting, "The Government of Meghalaya, and Deputy CM and minister in charge for labour Prestone Tynsong have been blatantly refusing to acknowledge any irregularity."
"In spite of prior demands by TUR, and other organizations, the State government has refused to take action and make available the financial assistance that the workers are entitled to. Unsurprisingly, the government is more preoccupied with ensuring the well-being of the rich, leaving the working classes to suffer the impact of loss of livelihood sources and access to food, healthcare and shelter", it adds.
Asking the State government to ensure registration of all unorganized sector workers under CRAWL, and releasing the Rs 2,100 to each immediately, NAPM said, at the same time the government must ensure release of Rs 5,000 to all labourers registered under MBOCWWB.
NAPM also demanded diversion of MLAs' funds should to support the families of unorganized workers, utilisation of 20% of the salaries of Class I officers and tax refunds for IAS and IPS officers to cover out of pocket expenses for Covid-affected working class people, and ensuring 200 person-days work under NREGA annually across Meghalaya, with Rs 600 as the per day wage.
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