Assam: Salaries of 16 Block Development Officers withheld

Non-payment of MGNREGA workers

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: A total of 16 Block Development Officers will have their salaries withheld due to their failure to provide timely payment of wages to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job card holders.

According to the provisions of the MGNREGA Act, timely payment of wages should be above 90%, and nonpayment of wages to MGNREGA workers on time is harassment to the poor daily wage workers as well as non-compliance with the MGNREGA Act.

The Commissioner, Panchayat & Rural Development, Assam, issued an order in which it was reported that the performance of several blocks in the state is very poor in terms of timely fund transfer order (FTO) generation for payment of wages to the job card holders under MGNREGA.

It was stated that under Section 3(3) of MGNREGA, “workers are entitled to being paid on a weekly basis and, in any case, within a fortnight of the date on which work was done.”

The Commissioner, P & RD Assam, stated that the rate of timely FTO generation is below 90% under the said blocks. As such, these blocks have violated the rules mentioned in the Act by not providing wages on time. Thus, they have violated the provisions of the MGNREGA Act, which stipulate that timely payment of wages should be above 90%, and nonpayment of wages to MGNREGA workers on time is harassment to the poor daily wage workers as well as non-compliance with the MGNREGA Act.

This also reflects gross negligence and inefficiency on the part of the programme officer, it was stated. In view of this, the Panchayat & Rural Development Department has decided to withhold the pay of the Block Development Officers (BDOs) of the following blocks until they achieve 90% timely FTO generation for payment of MGNREGA wages: Kalain Dev. Block, Cachar; Rupshi Dev. Block, Dhubri; Socheng Dev. Block, West Karbi Anglong; Chinthong lTDP, West Karbi Anglong; Balijana Dev. Block, Goalpara; Birsing Jarua Dev. Block, Dhubri; Hajo Dev. Block, Kamrup; Amri Dev. BIock, West Karbi Anglong; Dalgaon-Sialmari Dev. Block, Darrang; Palonghat Dev. BIock, Cachar; Banskandi Dev. Block, Cachar; Na-Duar Dev. Block, Sonitpur; Kharmuja Dev. BIock, Goalpara; Barama Dev. Block, Baksa; Borchola Dev. Block, Sonitpur; and Borkhola Dev. Block, Cachar.

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