Signing you in

The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee-Rozgar Aajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-G-RAM-G) came into force on July 1, bringing down the curtains on the two-decade-old MGNREGS. Consequently, contractual employees working under MGNREGS are required to execute fresh contracts before being deployed under the new project.

The employees’ union, however, has decided not to join duty on Saturday and instead stage another protest outside the house of Rural Development and Panchayats (RDP) Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond at Khanna on Monday.

The Additional Project Commissioner, Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, on Friday directed all deputy commissioners-cum-chief district programme coordinators and additional deputy commissioners to terminate the contracts of employees who fail to sign fresh agreements under the VB-G-RAM-G project. The department has also circulated a draft termination order along with a sample contract to be executed with employees joining the new scheme.

The order, issued with reference to an earlier communication dated July 10, said that district authorities had failed to act despite clear directions to initiate action against employees whose non-joining or non-performance was adversely affecting implementation of the new scheme. It said no district had taken the required action so far.

Under VB-G-RAM-G, every job card holder will now get 125 days of employment per annum, instead of 100 days.

The order also reiterated instructions issued on July 10 that employees under the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) should be assigned additional responsibilities under the VB-G-RAM-G project. These include generating muster rolls, monitoring development works and carrying out other project-related duties. It added that separate instructions regarding payment for the additional work would be issued, while technical duties would be assigned to junior engineers of the panchayati raj department.

The latest directions have been issued for immediate implementation.

Over 2,000 MGNREGS contractual employees have been protesting since June 1 over non-payment of wages for more than five months and demanding regularisation of their services in the Rural Development and Panchayats Department. The employees were earlier responsible for logistics operations, field management and implementation of MGNREGS and are now proposed to be deployed under the VB-G-RAM-G project.

Reacting to the government’s warning, the MGNREGA Workers Union Punjab accused the state government of threatening employees instead of addressing their long-pending demands.

“We have not received salaries for more than five months, and our demand for regularisation has also remained pending. On July 15, our members were lathi-charged while marching towards the residence of Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond. Several protesters were injured, and one worker suffered a fractured leg. Now, instead of resolving our issues, the government is threatening to terminate us,” said union patron Varinder Singh.

Varinder Singh said the union would hold a massive protest along with workers’ families outside Minister Sond’s residence in Khanna on July 20.

“On one hand, the government claims to be creating employment opportunities, while on the other it is threatening to terminate contractual employees who have been working for nearly 18 years on meagre salaries,” Varinder Singh alleged.

Gursewak Singh, union president, said, “On July 15, the minister had met us at Khanna and assured us that our file for the regularisation process will be sent to the government, after following the due process. In addition to this, they agreed to give us wages as per a pay scale rather than a lump sum. On July 17, the department issued a warning letter. So the minister is playing a dual game. We all have decided not to join duties and stage another dharna outside the minister’s house on Monday.”