Unpaid wages mar festive fervour among MGNREGS workers

Delay in disbursal of wages due for 3 months to MGNREGS workers in Tiruchi district has left them in distress ahead of Deepavali. 4.61 lakh persons from 3.27 households in rural areas are engaged in 100 days of work under the scheme. Workers have not received wages for 3 months, causing financial distress. Officials have completed formalities, but wages remain unpaid. Workers urge Centre & State to take immediate steps to release wages.

Delay in the disbursal of wages due for three months to workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Tiruchi district has left them in distress in the run-up to the Deepavali festival, with no signs of wage disbursal even as the most recent payday (Thursday) went by.

According to official sources, works under the rural employment scheme have been carried out in 404 revenue villages belonging to 14 panchayat unions in the district. About 4.61 lakh persons from 3.27 households in rural areas are engaged in 100 days of work under the scheme. Every month, an average of ₹22 crore is disbursed as payment towards the workers for executing the assigned works in their respective villages in Tiruchi district, with the wages credited to their bank accounts, through the Central Nodal Account (CNA), every Thursday.

Based on the measurement of work completed by the workers, which is duly certified by the respective competent officers in the district, wages are disbursed. However, most of the workers in Manikandam, Thathaiyangarpettai, Musiri, Thottiyam, Andhanallur, Mannachanallur and other blocks have reportedly not been paid their wages for about three months.

“I get paid ₹1,600 as wages every week. It suffices to take care of family expenditure. However, it has been over three months since I last received the wages. I keep a regular check of my bank account to see if the wages have been credited, only to end up crestfallen,” said S. Elangovan, a rural job worker in Uthamarseeli.

Almost all the 1,200-odd workers in Uthamarseeli have been faced with similar plight as they anxiously wait for the wages due for three months.

C. Palanivel of Uthamarseeli said the undue delay in receiving wages had put him in financial distress. “So is the case with most of the workers,” said Mr. Palanivel, adding, “They were under severe stress to mobilise funds to meet the mounting expenditure in view of the upcoming festive season which is just a few weeks away.”

Irked over the interminable wait, the workers have been approaching the rural development officials.