NREGS workers going without wages for more than five months

Penukonda: NREGS workers have been toiling hard venturing deep into hillocks for construction of farm ponds and trenches sans wages for the past five or six months. At least Rs 5.07 crore is yet to be disbursed towards wages for the workers in the constituency.

Besides construction of farm ponds and trenches, they also planted saplings for which also the wages are yet to be disbursed. Denying wages for so long would lead to migration of workers to other places, it is feared.

Highlights:

• Rs 5.07 crore is pending towards wages for the workers in Penukonda constituency
• Number of workers seeking work under the NREGS has come down from 7,000 to 500

Out of the total 7,000 job card holders, 3,000 used to work. Their number gradually has come down to 1,000. Officials have reduced the work force further limiting them to 500. In Penukonda mandal alone, the wages arrears amounted to Rs 2.25 crore, officials said. In Roddam mandal, the dues piled up to Rs 1 crore. In Somdevapalli, the dues payable was Rs 80 lakh. In Gorantla mandal, Rs 12 lakh was payable to the workers.

In dues payable in Parigi mandal were Rs 90 lakh. Daily, the workers have been doing rounds to banks to check their bank accounts whether their wages are credited. In the earlier regime, payment of wages was regular, the workers said pointing out the abnormal delay to the negligent attitude of the state and central governments. It was high-time officials paid attention to the issue and ensure that the workers get wages on time.

By K Kiran Kumar