R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, DEC 26
The Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC) has urged the state government to disburse the wage arrears to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers from August this year.
In a memorandum sent to the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday, the association alleged that it has received complaints from several districts that the district units of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) are yet to disburse wages to MNREGS workers from August.
This has affected the landless farmers and poor people, including, differently-abled persons who are depending on MGNREGS wages for their livelihood.
When asked about this, the district units of DRDA expressed their inability, as they are waiting for funds from the headquarters of the department of rural development in Chennai.
Hence, the MGNREGS workers should be paid their back wages along with 0.05 per cent interest as per the rules before New Year and Pongal festival.
As per the Rights of Differently-abled Act 2016, the differently-abled persons should be given 25 per cent hike in all the social welfare schemes, according to this, either the wages should be increased by 25 per cent or the yearly working days should be increased to 125, TARATDAC General Secretary S. Namburajan said in the release.
