MGNREGA employees to intensify protests if demands not fulfilled
Jalandhar, July 6
A large-scale rally was held today by MGNREGA employees at Ambedkar Park here over unfulfilled promises made by the state government. The rally saw participation from employees who have been working on a contractual basis in various posts within the Rural Development and Panchayat Department for the past 15 to 16 years.
The employees said that administration had promised to arrange a panel meeting with the Chief Minister after July 15. However, if the meeting doesn’t take place and their salaries of pending for the last three months are not released by July 16, they will intensify their protest by gheraoing the Head Office of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department in Mohali.
Addressing the gathering, several leaders voiced their concerns and demands. State president Varinder Singh, general secretary Amritpal Singh, press secretary Amrik Singh and others collectively condemned the government’s failure to regularise MGNREGA employees. They accused successive governments of exploiting MNREGA workers for political gain without fulfilling their demands.
“Governments have consistently relied on MGNREGA employees for rural development, yet they continue to make hollow promises,” said Varinder Singh. He highlighted that despite significant contributions to rural development, MGNREGA employees remain in precarious employment conditions, often having to work with borrowed materials.
The leaders criticised the AAP government for failing to honour its pre-election promise of making MGNREGA employees permanent. “Before coming to power, AAP assured us of regularisation. Post-elections, they invested crores in advertisements about regularising employees, but the reality remains unchanged,” Singh added.
The rally also brought to light the unmet commitments of previous governments. “The Akali-BJP administration had proposed policies for regularising contractual employees, which never materialised. Similarly, the Congress government’s attempt to address the issue got entangled in the bureaucracy of cabinet sub-committees,” a protester said.
