Hyderabad: Field helpers strike hits MGNREG works

Hyderabad: As the 7,500 strong field assistants are on the strike for the past five days, the works of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme have come to a standstill.

Though the government is bringing pressure on the striking field assistants to end the strike, they are continuing it. The strike may put a spoke in the wheel for the government in achieving the targets of NREG.

The field assistants of the NREG have gone on strike from March 12, demanding easing of norms for their continuation. They are also demanding financial and service benefits.

The NREG field assistants are responsible for providing work to the wage seekers in the rural areas. They would maintain the registers of the wage seekers, prepare muster rolls and send feed back to the Rural Development department.

However, they have been expressing resent on the norms being laid down for their continuation. The performance of them would be considered to continue them in the service for the next year.

For example, performance of FAs in 2019-20 financial year would be taken into consideration for their continuation in 2020-21 financial year.

Those who provide work for at least 20 person days to the wage seekers would be continued and those who provide less than that would be removed and replaced with the new. The FAs are alleging that this rule has made their job insecure.

The FAs are of the view that due to various reasons they were unable to provide prescribed person days to the wage seekers and this norm should be removed. The want that the Circular No 4997 being issued by RD department should be withdrawn.

Honorary president of Telangana Grameena Upadhi Field Assistants Association (affiliated to CITU) Bhupal said that apart from scrapping the circular, the FAs are demanding for the raise of their wages, implementation of Human Resource Policy, Travel and Dearness allowance.

He said that though the FAs have been agitating in support of their demands for the past two months, the government did not respond and they have no choice than to strike the work.

He alleged that the government is trying to weaken the strike and using suspensions as a weapon. In the districts about 100 to 200 FAs on the average for each district have been suspended.

With the strike of FAs, the works of NREG have come to a standstill in the rural areas. The government wanted to provide about 15 crore person days in this financial year.

So far about 10 crores person days have been provided and with the strike of FAs, the target could not be achieved.