Condemning the Manipur government for not disbursing the wages of job card holders even after the Central government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 70,05,662,000 in June, the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has demanded the state government to produce a white paper on the utilization of the sanctioned money.
During a press conference held at the Congress Bhawan on Friday, MPCC spokesperson Rabikhan said that with high vision Mahatma Gandhi the National Rural Employee Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was implemented during the Congress government for the welfare of rural poor population of country that constitute 80 per cent of total population of the country.
However, the scheme has not been implemented effectively in the state, as a result of which job card holders are protesting from time to time. Even a particular organisation had called economic blockade in connection with non-release of job card wages, he added.
Rabi said that the Central government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 70,05,662,000 in June for nearly 5,70,000 job card holders of the state.
However, the state government not disbursing their wages for the year 2021 till date is unfortunate as it is only the economically weaker section of the society that is working under MGNREGS, he said.
Moreover, as the scheme is already converted into an Act, no amount sanctioned under the scheme can be utilized for other purpose. If the wages are being delayed, the authority concerned should clear it with 12 per cent interest, he demanded.
“Even as the current year is coming to an end, it is sad to learn that job card holders are yet to get wages of the previous year. And as the Central government had already sanctioned the money in June, it is highly suspected that money might have used for other purposes like paying salary for the state government employees,” he alleged while urging to produce white paper of the said sanctioned money.
He also mentioned that even the old age pension has not been disbursed even after the Central government had sanctioned money for around Rs 900 crore. The financial condition of the state is not in a better position, he said.
To prevent any kind of restriction by RBI, is the state government diverting sanctioned amount for MGNREGS and old age pension in maintaining the state’s exchequer, he questioned.
While questioning whether the state government didn’t receive any special package, he said that both Centre and state are ruled by the BJP and they always claimed it as double engine government. If it is a double engine government, the Central government should provide financial assistance when the state is facing financial instability, he said.
