A large number of labourers staged a demonstration against the rural development department on Monday, alleging that since two years, the department has not released their pending wages for works executed under MGNREGA.
The protesting labourers assembled outside block development office, Mughalmaidan, and raised slogans against the director, rural development department, assistant commissioner development and block development officer.
They alleged, “Since over two years, the rural development department has not released our pending wages for the works executed under MGNREGA. We even brought the issue into the notice of the block development officer, Mughalmaidan, a number of times, but nothing has been done yet.”
Faisal Hussain, one of the protesters, said, “I am the sole bread earner in my family. I invested all my savings on constructing a development work under MGNREGA scheme, but even the cost material component of it remains unreleased.”
Another labourer, Ghulam Mohi-u-din Shah, said, “The government had made several promises, but it was all a hoax. We have no money to feed our families. Despite completing the work, which can be seen on the ground, our wages remain pending.”
He claimed that his wages have been pending since 2014.
The protesters warned about intensifying their agitation if their wages are not released within a week. They also appealed to the governor’s administration to look into the issue and redress their grievance.