‘Provide aid to workers who were denied rural jobs’
The Hindu
With the Central government asking the States to exclude people over 55 years from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), various labour associations have urged the Rural
With the Central government asking the States to exclude people over 55 years from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), various labour associations have urged the Rural Development Department to provide relief assistance to the workers whose livelihoods were affected. P.L. Sundaram, president of Erode District Rural Workers Association, in a letter to the Secretary, Rural Development Department, said that the Central government had on April 19 sent a circular to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department asking not to employ persons above 55 years. The Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) was asked to enforce the order.More than 2.6 lakh village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh, once celebrated as the government’s grassroots champions for their crucial role in implementing welfare schemes, are now in a dilemma after learning that their tenure has not been renewed after August 2023 even though they have been paid honoraria till June 2024. Disowned by both YSRCP, which was in power when they were appointed, and the current ruling TDP, which made a poll promise to double their pay, these former volunteers are ruing the day they signed up for the role which they don’t know if even still exists