Programme officer directed for payment of Non employment allowance to job card holders
Ravi Takhellambam
Imphal East ombudsman, MGNREGS has directed the Programme Officer, MGNREGA/ Block Development Officer, Imphal East-I CD Block/SDO, Sawombung to make payment of unemployment allowance to the job card holders under Khurai Laishram Leikai Gram Panchayat within two months from the date of receipt of the directive.
The ombudsman office also directed the concerned authority not to reject the application of the job card workers solely on the ground of non-availability of fund in view of sub-section (3) of section 8 of MGNREGA.
With the Government failing to provide work to the job card workers under Mahatama Gandhi National rural Employment Guarantee scheme despite the MGNREGA act 2005 guarantees the job card holders 100 days work in a year, 30 job card holders under Khurai Laishram Leikai Gram Panchayat lodged 3 (three) different complaints with the office of Imphal East ombudsman, Wahengbam Joykumar against the Programme Officer, MGNREGA/ Block Development Officer, Imphal East-I CD Block/SDO and Panchayat secretary of Khurai Laishram Leikai Gram Panchayat.
The job card holders filed their complaints with the ombudsman office as complaint no 7, 8 and 9 of 2014. Following the complaints, the office heard the grievances of the job card holders, pursued the bank passbooks, job cards as well as the photocopy of the written response of the Programme officer and Panchayat Secretary.
When the Imphal East Ombudsman checked the bank passbooks and job cards of the complainants, reply of the Programme officer and Panchayat Secretary, it was found that during the period from the beginning of the financial year 2014-15 to the date of submission of the complainants’ joint applications for work i.e. during the period from 1.4.2014 to 10.11.2014, no employment was provided to the complainants except seven complainants had been provided employment for 6 (six) days only. The said documents further revealed that no unemployment allowance has been paid to any of the complainants during the said financial year.
Sub- section (1) of section 7 of the Act provides that if an applicant for employment under the Scheme is not provided such employment within fifteen days from the date of the receipt of his application seeking employment or from the date on which the employment has been sought in the case of advance application, whichever is later, he shall be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance in accordance with the section.
As for the job card holders under Khurai Laishram Leikai Gram Panchayat, no employment had been provided till December 28, 2014 and the employment provided earlier is less than 100 days. The Complainants are, therefore, entitled to unemployment allowance in accordance with the provisions of section 7 of the Act revealed the ombudsman office.
