GULBARGA: Members of the Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha on Tuesday held a demonstration and staged a dharna in front of the office of the Head Post Office here protesting against post offices in rural areas not opening saving bank accounts of those involved in works taken up under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and depriving them of their employment avenues.

The protestors led by the State secretariat member of the CPM and president of the State unit of the sangha Maruti Manpade and State committee member Virupakshappa Tadkal said in a memorandum addressed to the General Chief Post Master that the shortage of application forms for opening of saving bank accounts in post offices in rural areas had delayed the process of opening of saving bank accounts, which is mandatory for beneficiaries seeking employment under the NREGS.

The memorandum said the guidelines of the Union Government had stated that those seeking employment under the NREGS should have a joint account in a nationalised bank or post office to enable the authorities to pay their wages through cheque. Without opening a savings bank account, the officials involved in NREGS would not provide employment to those who seek employment in rural areas. The sangha wanted the General Chief Post Master based in Bangalore to ensure adequate supply of application forms in all post offices. The memorandum said there was inordinate delay in debiting the wages to the saving bank accounts of the beneficiaries by the post offices and wanted the post offices to debit the wages to the beneficiaries immediately after the respective gram panchayat paid the said amount through a demand draft.

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