Bengaluru: The Modi government has said it is reconsidering the caste-based payment disbursal under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGS) scheme, and examining if the earlier system — one account to pay all salaries — should be restored.
The statement came a week after a report in ThePrint highlighted the problems being created by caste-based salary disbursal under the MGNREGA among workers in Karnataka.
The system, introduced earlier this year, involves disbursing salaries through three accounts — one for Scheduled Castes (SCs), a second for Scheduled Tribes (STs), and the third for others — and resentment arose when members of one group received their pay before the others.
The government’s rethink plan was conveyed to ThePrint by the Union Ministry of Rural Development Thursday, in reply to an email query sent on 30 September.
The inconvenience to workers under the new payment system, the ministry said, has come to its notice.
“Ministry is in receipt of some representations, highlighting inconvenience to different categories of workers. Ministry is examining the issue whether the earlier provision of single fund transfer order (FTO) for all categories of workers who have worked in a single muster roll for the same work and for the same period should be restored,” the ministry said.
Asked why the trifurcation was necessitated, the ministry said it was meant for accounting purposes.
“For better accounting purpose, it has been decided, in consultation with Department of Expenditure, to have a category-wise (SC, ST and others) wage payment system,” the ministry added.
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‘Issues resolved’
On 2 March, the Union Ministry of Rural Development sent all state governments an advisory saying the Government of India had decided to provide separate budget heads for SC and ST categories under MGNREGA from the financial year 2021-22 for wage payment.
Once the caste-based system kicked in, the central government’s erratic and non-uniform disbursal of payments to each of the three accounts began to cause problems among workers.
For example, in Karnataka, differences have been reported because of labourers belonging to one group receiving payments faster despite taking up the same work in the same region.
Asked about the disparity in the release of payments, the ministry said there were no different yardsticks for the disbursal of funds to each of the three accounts.
“Wage payment is being released against the FTOs as received through Public Financial Management System (PFMS). Some issues at banker’s level had been observed in the initial months of the financial year, which is now resolved and the fund is being released on a continuous basis for all the categories,” the ministry added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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