TNM impact: Six Andhra officials suspended over irregularities in NREGA wage payments

TNM had carried a report highlighting the claims of nearly 500 workers, who said that their wages to the tune of Rs 20 lakh, had been delayed for 20 months.
Investigaton
Investigaton
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Two months after The News Minute reported on alleged irregularities in the payment of wages to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) workers in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district, state officials have suspended as many as six officials including an Assistant  Programme Officer (APO), an Engineering Consultant (EC) and other technical staff. In December, TNM had carried a report highlighting the allegations of nearly 500 NREGA workers from Chirutapudi village of Ambajipeta mandal, where they claimed that their wages which were to the tune of Rs 20 lakh had been delayed for 20 months.

Taking The News Minute’s report into cognisance, state Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (PR&RD) Department constituted a team of officials from the Commissioner's office under the supervision of the Director of the State Employment Guarantee Scheme (SEGS) to conduct a detailed probe into the issue.

The SEGS social audit and vigilance officials who carried out an enquiry and physical verification of the sites and documents pertaining to the work, concluded that there was "negligence" and "irregularities" in conducting the work as per due process.

Revenue and police officials, during checks in the village, found bundles of records and electronic documents pertaining to the undertaken EGS works, at the residence of a Field Assistant (FA). Based on the enquiry, the District Water Management Authority (DWMA) Project Director has issued suspension orders to the staff along with show-cause notices.

According to officials, an APO, an EC and two staff members working as computer operators and a Technical Assistant (TA) and Field Assistant were suspended for the "negligence" that led to irregularities and lapses in proper implementation of NREGA works.

Speaking to TNM a senior official from the State NREGA said, "In the enquiry, it was found that there was negligence on part of the staff and certain irregularities leading to a delay in the payment of wages and other discrepancies."

He further added, "There was gross mismatch between digital musters and electronic musters. The staff failed to maintain the data of the works and workers in a due manner. The claims of due wages were verified and Rs 1.6 lakh in wages are being disbursed. The remaining claims are also being examined."

Illa Kishore Kumar from NGO Haqdarshak, which works with rural communities, said that officials should give wages to deserving workers by considering the evidence available with workers and documents which are at the Gram Panchayat. Kishore said, "Officials should ensure maximum justice to the workers, because no daily wage worker should lose his wages due to someone’s errors. Officials should adopt the village and revamp NREGA works as most of the workers are from a lower income strata."

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