Urges administration to clear dues of labourers, suppliers
JAMMU, Sep 14: J&K Apni Party Trade Wing Incharge and Provincial Secretary Ajaz Kazmi has expressed serious concern over the non-release of payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for works executed several years ago, particularly during the financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Kazmi said that it was deeply unfortunate that payments pertaining to MGNREGA works undertaken nearly a decade ago continue to remain pending, despite the fact that labourers had completed the assigned work and suppliers had provided material as required. He urged the concerned authorities to take the matter on priority and ensure that all genuine and verified outstanding liabilities are cleared without any further delay.
In a statement issued here, Kazmi said that MGNREGA is fundamentally aimed at providing livelihood security and employment opportunities to people in rural areas. Therefore, prolonged withholding of payments defeats the very purpose of the scheme and causes serious financial hardship to those who depend upon timely payments for their livelihood.
“It is a matter of grave concern that payments relating to MGNREGA works executed during 2016-17 and 2017-18 are still pending. The labourers who physically carried out the work and the suppliers who provided the required material should not be made to suffer for years because of administrative delays or procedural complications,” Kazmi said.
He maintained that labourers under MGNREGA largely belong to economically weaker sections and depend upon their earnings to meet essential household requirements. Keeping their legitimate dues pending for such a long period puts an additional financial burden on families that can least afford it.
Similarly, he said, local suppliers who provided construction material for MGNREGA works had incurred expenditure from their own resources and are entitled to receive their legitimate payments. “When suppliers provide material on the assurance of payment, keeping their dues pending for years affects their businesses, working capital and ability to undertake further work,” he added.
Kazmi urged the administration to undertake a time-bound verification and reconciliation of all pending MGNREGA liabilities, identify the reasons for non-payment and release the admissible amounts to labourers and suppliers at the earliest.
He further called upon the concerned departments and field agencies to coordinate with one another so that cases held up because of documentation, technical verification, fund accounting or other procedural issues are resolved promptly.The Apni Party leader stressed that development works executed under government schemes should not become a source of prolonged financial distress for the people who contribute to their implementation.
“The government must ensure that no genuine beneficiary or supplier is deprived of his or her legitimate dues merely because a payment has remained pending for years. A delay of a few months may be understandable in exceptional circumstances, but keeping payments pending since 2016-17 and 2017-18 requires immediate intervention at the highest appropriate level,” he said.
Kazmi also appealed to the concerned authorities to make the status of such pending payments transparent and inform the affected labourers and suppliers about the reasons for the delay and the expected timeline for settlement.He said that timely payment is an essential component of effective implementation of MGNREGA and that restoring confidence among rural workers and local suppliers should be treated as a priority.
The Apni Party Provincial Secretary reiterated that the party stands with workers, small suppliers, contractors and other sections associated with rural development activities and will continue to raise genuine public issues before the appropriate authorities.He once again demanded immediate release of all verified and pending MGNREGA payments pertaining to 2016-17 and 2017-18, particularly the dues of labourers and suppliers, and urged the administration to ensure that such prolonged delays are not repeated in the future.