NREGA workers condemn attacks on rights and scheme's undermining

By A Representative
In a powerful protest on September 28, 2024, two hundred NREGA workers gathered in front of the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi, condemning the continuous attacks on their rights and the systematic dismantling of NREGA by the Modi government. Organized by Jharkhand NREGA Watch and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, the demonstration saw workers from Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal demanding the proper implementation of the NREGA law – timely payment of wages, guaranteed employment, and work without exclusion. Inspired by the life of Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary, Praful Linda of the Adivasi Adhikar Manch called on the workers to stand against the anti-poor, pro-capitalist central government. Representatives from Jharkhand Mazdoor Sangathan and Jharkhand Kisan Parishad also joined the dharna in support of the workers.
The workers are demanding the immediate reversal of anti-worker technologies like the online attendance system (NMMS) and the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS). Maheshwari from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, recounted how workers in her panchayat are being denied their wages due to NMMS, often being told that their names were not on the muster roll despite completing the work. The workers claim that these technologies are causing delays in wage payments, denial of work, and consequently weakening the scheme.
A serious issue raised was the complete halt of NREGA work in West Bengal since December 2021. Accusing the state of corruption in implementation, the central government has withheld NREGA funds for West Bengal under Section 27 of the NREGA Act. Consequently, thousands of workers in West Bengal have not received wages for work completed before the suspension, nor have they received any work under NREGA for nearly three years. Ambarish from Purulia district, boycotting the central government for punishing workers for corruption, demanded that NREGA work should continue despite the investigation into alleged corruption.
On the other hand, in Jharkhand, in clear violation of the law, JCB machines are used in NREGA works, and middlemen snatch more than half the wages of the workers. Yet, there is a complete lack of political will to put an end to these practices, leaving workers trapped between middlemen and an insensitive state. The workers demanded that the government should work towards strengthening social audits and grievance redressal to combat corruption in MNREGA and ensure the independence of these processes to enhance people's accountability. With state elections approaching, one thing is clear: the workers' vote will go to those who strengthen MNREGA.
The workers also raised the issue that despite their repeated attempts to engage in dialogue with the Minister of Rural Development, they have only received broken promises. The most recent disappointment came just last week when a scheduled meeting on September 24, 2024, was abruptly cancelled without any reason given. This meeting was supposed to include representatives from NREGA workers' organizations across the country, but only one out of the six proposed worker representatives was granted permission by the Ministry of Rural Development. This is further evidence of the ministry's reluctance to listen to the voices of the affected workers.
Under increasing poverty and unemployment, the importance of NREGA has further increased. For many workers and their families, NREGA is not just a source of employment but a means of survival. The message from rural workers to the central and state governments is loud and clear: NREGA work at a fair wage is our right, we will not let it go!

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Counterview

Search This Blog