New Delhi: According to Report 8.1.1 of the NREGA Management Information System (MIS), 8 crore National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) payments are pending as on Wednesday November 3. This means, for nearly 5 crore workers across the country this will be a Black Diwali or Kali Diwali.
Following the raging debate about NREGA funds running out with five months remaining, the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) seeks to point out how serious the crisis currently is. On such a festive occasion when people not only expect to be paid their due wages and hopefully a bonus, NREGA workers have not been paid wages for the work they have done. The hope of being paid in the near future is also bleak.
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) claimed that there are Rs. 8,900 crore available for work to carry on. But this is not borne out by the facts of allocations, payments made and pending liabilities.
The press release stated that these payments are calculated from fund transfer orders (FTOs) that have been generated but not paid till day. Each transaction represents a worker who has worked for a week or 15 days. There are some cases where one worker would have several pending payments due, which only intensifies the distress. It is worse for those workers whose payments have been rejected and yet not corrected. As on November 3, 24.15 lakh transactions adding up to approximately Rs. 300 cr of NREGA wages are rejected due to technical reasons. It is worse for those workers whose payments have been rejected because they are not available to them unless corrected.
As per the press release, from the time the Central Government allocated Rs. 73000 crore, reducing last year’s revised estimate by 34 per cent, it became clear that money would run out approximately half way through the year. The Central Government did find money to pay its own employees’ 28 per cent Dearness Allowance and 3 per cent Bonus for Diwali, but chooses to look away from existing dues for NREGA workers, leave alone their situation during festivals like Diwali.
