NREGA workers expose rural development minister’s claims; Plan protest at Jantar Mantar on 5-6 December

By A Representative

NREGA workers, under the banner of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha have accused the Modi government of undermining the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). They highlighted issues such as inadequate budget allocations and the arbitrary deletion of job cards, challenging the claims made by the Minister for Rural Development during a parliamentary debate on December 3, 2024.

Renowned economist Jean Dreze debunked Minister of State (MoS) Chandrashekhar Pemmasani’s claim that the government has consistently increased the NREGA budget by ₹20,000 crore annually. Dreze pointed out that while Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) are generated on time, actual wage payments are often delayed by weeks or months. Jharkhand NREGA Watch’s Afsana Khatun underscored how insufficient initial budgets result in delays in wage payments and the denial of work once funds are exhausted. She also called for an increase in NREGA wages to ₹800 per day to keep pace with inflation.

Jitendra Paswan from Bihar criticized the technical interventions, including the Aadhaar-Based Payments System (ABPS) and online attendance via the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS). He highlighted how poor connectivity and technical glitches prevent workers from marking their attendance, resulting in lost wages. Paswan also noted that 9 crore job cards have been deleted since FY 2022-23 due to stringent ABPS requirements, a fact confirmed by Libtech’s Chakradhar Buddha, who attributed this to the recent policy changes.

Meanwhile, Ambarish Soren from West Bengal condemned the Centre’s stoppage of NREGA funds to the state since December 2021. This has led to a complete halt in NREGA work and unpaid wages for FY 2021-22. The Rural Development Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, cited corruption in West Bengal’s implementation of NREGA as the reason but failed to provide accountability or penalties for officials involved. Soren argued that denying workers their rightful wages is not justified under the NREGA Act.

The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha accused the government of systematically dismantling the program through inadequate budgets and arbitrary technical interventions. They announced a two-day protest at Jantar Mantar on December 5-6, 2024, urging citizens to support their fight for fair wages and the right to work.

The workers demand transparency from the Rural Development Ministry, including the publication of the investigation report on corruption allegations. They also called for an immediate review of budgetary policies and technical systems to prevent further disenfranchisement of rural workers.

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