Labourers from Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Saturday staged a demonstration at a block after being denied work under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) for the last few months.

The mandate of the MGNREGA is to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household.

“Villagers from across all the 11 panchayats in the Sonua block have been complaining for the last few months that they were denied jobs for some or other reasons. We had to take this up with the authorities as we apprehend a nexus between the local contractors and the MGNREGA officials at the panchayat level,” said Sandeep Pradhan, a member of the Khadya Suraksha Jan Adhikar Manch, an organisation espousing cause of Right to Food and MGNREGA implementation.

Nearly, 50 villagers met the Sonua block development officer, Nanjee Ram, and demanded a job.

“There is a great need for work right now, but MNREGA schemes are not running in sufficient numbers in the villages. Whenever the villagers demand work at the panchayat secretariat from the MGNREGA officials they are returned back with various excuses like there is a dearth of funds, MIS (Management Information System) is not being, and others. So far this year, schemes are not being implemented at the ground level in most of the villages” alleged Pradhan.

Manoj Nayak, a member of the Manch, further alleged that there are large-scale irregularities in the fake muster rolls.

“With the nexus of contractors and local MGNREGAofficials, fake muster rolls are prepared in the name of relatives of the contractors who do not come for work. The real village workers are denied work,” he alleged.

“The indifference of the administration towards MGNREGA workers is reflected in the fact that 14 workers of Porahat village in Sonua had demanded work on February 2, but they have not received work to date,” Pradhan said.

The workers also shared the problems being faced from the recently implemented Mobile Attendance System (NMMS)and Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS). The labourers’ hard work and attendance are being reduced to zero in MIS. The labourers who do not have ABPS, are not being given work.

The workers submitted a memorandum to the BDO demanding that they should be given work immediately and a large number of schemes should be started in every village of the block. They also demanded that muster roll should be issued on time and delivered at the work site before the start of work. Under no circumstances muster roll should be made zero in MIS and action should be taken against the guilty personnel and cancellation of NMMS and ABPS systems.