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print versionNREGA Sangharsh Morcha
Ph: 9845371493/ 9433002064 / 7982910587 Twitter: @NREGA_Sangharsh
Facebook: @NREGASangharshMorcha
Email: nrega.sangharsh.morcha[at]gmail.com
NREGA Dharna, Day 1, 2 August 2022
Workers Demand Increased Budgetary Allocations and Timely Payment
Hundreds of NREGA workers from 15+ states gathered for a three day protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi called under the banner of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha. The crucial role played by NREGA in supporting the rural population was highlighted during the pandemic, with work demand shooting up as lakhs of migrant workers streamed home. Even now, two years into the pandemic, NREGA’s demand remains high. And yet, NREGA is under attack by the government. Consistently decreasing budgetary allocations, wage payments delayed for months, negligible compensation paid for delays, and woefully low wages plague NREGA. These issues are widespread across the country.
The first day of protest was marked by the singing of protest songs, testimonies given by individual NREGA workers from different states, and enthusiastic sloganeering with some old, famous NREGA slogans: “Har haath ko kaam do, kaam ka poora daam do”, “Ladenge, Jeetenge!”, “Hum apna adhikaar maangte, nahin kisi se bheekh maangte”.
Anuradha Talwar from Pashchim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti shared about the Morcha’s demand of increasing the NREGA wage to Rs 800 a day, which roughly equals the monthly salary of the lowest paid government employees as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. She also highlighted the situation of West Bengal, which suffers from the worst wage delays in the country – more than Rs. 2600 crores are yet to be paid over just the last 2 FYs, and no payments have been made since December 2021.
Workers from West Bengal, Telangana Bihar, and UP all highlighted the issues of delays in payments and unmet demand. Many of them have been demanding work since April with no response. They have also not received the unemployment allowance they are legally supposed to receive. The newly introduced NMMS application for marking attendance is causing much distress to workers across the country.
Political leaders also came to the event and expressed teir solidarity with the mazdoors. Binoy Viswam, CPI MP from Kerala, expressed his support of the ‘jal, jangal, zameen’ issue, and demanded the central govt. answer the mazdoors. Hannan Mollah, 8 time MP from CPI (M) in Howrah, and the senior leader of the All Indian Kisan Sabha, spoke about the common issues of farmers and NREGA labourers. He called the government an anti-farmer, anti-mazdoor government, and gave a call for unity of movements. Yogendra Yadav also joined the protest and expressed his solidarity with the cause. Annie Raja of NFIW was also present.
Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh of MKSS spoke passionately about the deeper issues underlying the eroson of NREGA. They emphasised the need to come together and demand greater accountability from the government, and also raised issues of freedom of speech and the right to protest.
The day ended with plans to send state-wise delegations to each state’s opposition parties on the next two days of the dharna.
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NREGA Sangharsh Morcha
Ph: 9845371493/ 9433002064 / 7982910587
Twitter: @NREGA_Sangharsh
Facebook: @NREGASangharshMorcha
Email: nrega.sangharsh.morcha[at]gmail.com
NREGA Dharna, Day 2, 3rd August 2022
500+ NREGA workers from across 15 states gathered in Jantar Mantar for the second day of the dharna today. Workers from Haryana, U.P., Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka gave testimonies about the hardships they have faced owing to persistent delays in wage payments, on how they did not get work when they demanded it, and about how no compensation was provided when workers were injured or even killed at the workplace. Many raised concerns regarding the introduction of the NMMS app for attendance at worksites and other technological interventions making it difficult to work in NREGA.
Several workers’ delegations visited the MPs of their states to share their grievances and demands. Memoranda and the charter of demands was presented to the following Members of Parliament: R. Krishnaiah (YSRCP), Uttam Kumar Reddy (INC), Dhiraj Sahu (INC), Diya Kumari (BJP), Jagannath Sarkar (BJP). The documents were also submitted to the Samajwadi Party office. Some of these MPs received the charter of demands and some of them expressed their support and assured to raise it in the parliament. D. Raja, the General Secretary of the CPI and Kavita Krishnan of CPIML attended the dharna and endorsed all the demands.
Currently, more than Rs. 21,850 crores of wages are pending since April 20201. This year’s pendency is already Rs 6,800 crores. In particular, no wages for West Bengal have been processed since December 2021 and current dues are above Rs. 2,500 crores. An analysis done of 18 lakh wage invoices of the first half of FY 21-22 showed that only 29% of payments were processed within the mandated 7 day period by the Government of India (GoI). There is enough evidence suggesting that inadequate funds allocation lead to wage delays. As of July 31, 66.4% of the budget has already been spent with 8 months remaining in the FY.
Corruption in NREGA is a genuine concern and social audits have been mandated primarily to curtail corruption. However, Rakshita Swamy of SAFAR and Karuna M., of PHM Tamil Nadu highlighted how funds for social audits have been curbed by the GoI themself. In a circular dated 5th January 2022, the Ministry of Rural Development said that social audits are a “pre-requisite” for fund release to States. On the one hand, the GoI is curtailing funds for NREGA on grounds of increased corruption and on the other, it has curtailed funds for social audits. There will be a detailed note on the issue of corruption in NREGA in the release tomorrow.
The alarming situation of food insecurity in the country and the need for greater investments in food entitlement was highlighted. Workers spoke about the difficulties in affording even two meals a day due to high inflation with a gas cylinder costing more than Rs. 1000. Mandvi, a worker from Bihar asked to end the “Ram Mandir politics” and ensure food security. There were demands to universalise PDS and have quotas for NFSA based on 2022 population projections to be in compliance with Supreme Court orders. Further PDS must include pulses, millets and oils. The PMGKAY must be extended till such time that the pandemic continues.
For further details please call Abhay (9845371493), Anuradha (9433002064), Apurva (9313759050), Laavanya (9910746743) or write to nrega.sangharsh.morcha[at]gmail.com
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NREGA Sangharsh Morcha
Ph: 9845371493/ 9433002064 / 7982910587
Twitter: @NREGA_Sangharsh
Facebook: @NREGASangharshMorcha
Email: nrega.sangharsh.morcha[at]gmail.com
NREGA Dharna, Day 3, 4th August 2022
On the final day of the 3-day dharna, despite heavy rains, hundreds of mazdoors from 15 states stayed on at Jantar Mantar to continue raising their voices. Currently, 14 states are running a negative balance on NREGA funds, and 64% of the budget for this financial has already been spent. More than Rs. 6800 crores are due in wages to mazdoors only for this year; no payments have been cleared in West Bengal since December 2021. Mazdoors from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh spoke today about their grievances, mentioning the weeks of work they have done without pay, the difficulty and distress caused by the National Mobile Monitoring System application and other technological interventions. James Herenj (Jharkhand NREGA Watch) highlighted the issue of non-functional, non-funded social audit units across states. The workers and unions present appealed to citizens, political leaders and representatives, and the media to support them in their cause
Adivasis from Gompad, Chhattisgarh also joined the dharna and shared their decade-old ordeal. In 2009, security forces had massacred their village, killed Adivasis, raped women and inflicted grievous injuries on children. Since then, they have been fighting for justice but neither have the perpetrators been punished nor have the victims been compensated.
Neither the state nor the central government has acknowledged the police violence. The injustice against them reached new levels recently when the Supreme Court recently rejected their petition for justice and ordered a fine on the petitioners including activist Himanshu Kumar. Kavita Krishnan of CPI (ML) added on how the Modi government is targeting all voices that are protesting against the government’s hindutva and anti-people policies. NSM extends its full support to the Adivasis of Gompad and neighboring villages, and the activists standing with the victims.
The Working People’s Coalition (WPC), a coalition of informal workers’ unions from across India, led a session on the rights of informal workers. Chandan Kumar, Coordinating Secretary of WPC emphasised that informal migrant workers were also MGNREGA workers, and they had suffered the worst throughout the pandemic. The session highlighted the demand for implementation of Employee State Insurance norms, which include healthcare, maternity benefits, and unemployment benefits for informal sector workers, along with housing for informal and migrant workers. Workers from different sectors gave their testimonies, and the session concluded with the declaration of solidarity between WPC and NSM.
Today, mazdoor delegations visited MPs as well. Supriya Sule of NCP accepted the demand charter, and assured that she would raise our demands in Parliament. J Venkatesan and Natarajan of CPI (M) assured us they would write to the Ministry of Rural Development and Prime Minister’s Office on behalf of NSM. We also met with Tamil Nadu VCK MP Thirumavalavan, who wants to follow-up on the discussion and invited us to meet him next week. Yogendra Yadav joined the dharna today, encouraging the workers to continue their struggle, and extended his full support. A delegation will be meeting with the Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, as well as Rahul Gandhi’s office later today evening.
The day ended with a discussion on the way forward by representatives from different states. The NREGA workers return to their villages today, but the campaign and struggle will go on. The workers vow to continue their agitation in the Panchayats, Blocks, Districts, and States and will return yet again to Delhi as a show of their resolve to protect the MGNREGA and their right to a dignified life. We will also pursue national-level advocacy with national and regional parties, and coordinate our actions across states.
For further details please call Abhay (9845371493), Anuradha (9433002064), Apurva (9313759050), Laavanya
(9910746743) or write to nrega.sangharsh.morcha[at]gmail.com
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