The Hindu : Karnataka News : ZP officials lambasted for not paying wages

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Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

ZP officials lambasted for not paying wages

Staff Correspondent

H.D. Kumaraswamy to be urged to withdraw the package system under the rural employment guarantee scheme

CEO says some of the labourers have not opened bank accounts
Members allege that banks have refused to open the accounts

DAVANGERE: Non-payment of wages to labourers under the NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) figured prominently at the general body meeting of the Davangere Zilla Panchayat on Tuesday. Apart from this, members who strongly criticised the package system under the Chief Minister Grameena Sadak Rozgar Yojana (CMGSRY) have unanimously resolved to oppose the package system and send a delegation to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to pressure him to withdraw it.

Members cutting across party lines have criticised the irregular payments to labourers and they described the non-payment of wages as inhuman. They asked why the wages were not being paid despite the zilla panchayat having sufficient funds.

Hodigere Ramesh, S.K. Ramareddy, P. Ramana Gowda, Ramappa and Venkatesh were vocal among they members who questioned the non-payment and irregular payment of wages to labourers. They said that delay in settlement of bills or delay in payment to any other work could have been tolerated but inordinate delay and irregular payment of wages to workers under the scheme could not be tolerated. They said they were not ready to hear any excuses for non-payment of wages and they insisted that labourers who had been given job guarantee under the scheme should be paid wages as it was a hand-to-mouth existence for them.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the zilla panchayat Nijalingappa claimed that wages to labourers had been paid in many parts but wages for some of them, who had not yet opened the accounts in banks, had been withheld owing to technical reasons. There was a clear direction from the Union Government to ask the labourers to open an account in nationalised banks, and payment was to be made through banks, he said.

Mr. Ramesh and Mr. Gowda pointed out that many places did not have branches of nationalised banks and a few of them had refused to open accounts of labourers owing to shortage of staff. Besides, the minimum deposit was Rs.250. Most labourers did not have the amount.

The CEO said that he would write to the Union Government explaining these difficulties and he would act according to its directives.

Meanwhile Mr. Rama Reddy said that the previous Executive Officer of Jagalur had not handed over the nominal muster roll and as a result labourers had not been paid wages. The members opposed the introduction of the package system under the CMGSRY grants and said that this was the only amount which could be used as per the discretions of the members to form new roads. The members said that this sort of action would defeat the very purpose of decentralization of powers and pointed out that many other zilla panchayats including Mysore Zilla Panchayat had opposed the package system.

Vice-president Nagarathnamma, Standing Committee Chairman Manjappa and Deputy Secretary Rudrappa were present at the meeting.

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