Sahariyas miffed as no wages paid for recent works under job scheme

Bharosi Bai, a 40-year-old Sahariya tribal of Janakpur village in Baran district, engaged under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), says she has not been paid her wages for the last three years. Her wages against seven muster rolls for the work done at Balaji ki Talai are still pending.

There are a number of Sahariya-inhabited villages, including Madhopur, Heerapur, Bakanpura and Garda, in Baran district where people like Bai have not been paid their dues against the work done under the NREGS.

A dozen villagers of Madhopur, including Khemraj, Raghunath and Jugraj, say that they had carried out digging work at Baba Ramdev Ki Talai under the job guarantee scheme, but were not paid wages. Similarly, more than a dozen villagers of Bakanpura, including Sunita Bai, Pushpa, Rajanti and Basanti, also say that they had not received wages against 1 to 4 muster rolls for the work done in recent months.

Firoz Khan, a social activist working for the Sahariya people, says that the tribal workers were facing financial hardships due to non-payment of the NREGS wages. They were also not getting “proper” employment under the job guarantee scheme, he adds.

Kariya Sahariya and Rampyari of Dabka Digoda village say that no work was allocated in the village for the last two years under the job guarantee scheme. Pipalghatta, Pinjani, Himmatgarh, Tapra, Simlod and Amroli villages have not been allocated any work under the NREGS despite demanded by the villagers, Khan alleges.

Denying the charges, Baran Zila Parishad chief executive officer Ramjeevan Meena says that the non-payment matters were related to the workers whose bank accounts were dead or they had given the wrong account number. Owing to this, fund transfer order (FTO) for such muster roll workers cannot be generated, thus delaying their wages, he adds.

“We are tracking FTO rejections and monitoring their reasons. Later, rozgar sahayaks (employment assistants) will approach the NREGS labourers to get their bank account numbers corrected and dead account revived,” he says.

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