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NREGA fails to benefit villagers
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Danna-Loran (Poonch), October 2
While the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has benefited many downtrodden people in the rural areas, villagers of Danaa-Loran agonisingly await for the payment of work done under the scheme.

Danaa-Loran is one of the most backward areas of the state. The villagers rue that the government got work from them under the scheme but failed to pay for the work.

Shamas Din worked for about a month on the construction of bunds along the road in his native village here, hoping that the work would benefit the village as well as bring in the money for workers like him under the NREGA scheme.

However, even as Din died of a disease about a month ago, his family members are yet to get the money for the work he did.

“My father worked on the road for about a month last year. The Rural Development Department (RDD) owes more than Rs 2000 to him for the work done under the NREGA scheme”.

“We are yet to get the money. The Central government may take pride in starting the NREGA, but the scheme has failed to benefit poor people like us,” said an angered Noor Muhammad, son of Shamas Din.

Another villager Muhammad Hanief has the same sordid tale to narrate. “I, along with five to six other villagers, worked for 27 days under the NREGA scheme, but we got nothing for the work we did. Initially, we took up the matter with the Secretary as

well as the Block Development Officer’s office, but they did nothing in this regard. Now we have given up claim for the money,” complains Hanief. “Corrupt officials are eating away the money meant for the poor people. The Central government must check this,” he added.

Deepak Dubey, Block Development Officer (BDO), Mandi, under whose area of responsibility Danna is, failed to give concrete answer on the matter. “Maybe the villagers worked on a job which was not under the plan”, BDO averred.