Rs. 5 in letter: Jharkhand’s villagers post to Modi

May 02, 2016 09:53
Rs. 5 in letter: Jharkhand’s villagers post to Modi

Jharkhand villagers sent Rs. 5 enclosed in a letter to the Prime Minister’s office in Delhi.

Latehar district residents sent those letters to the PM, protesting against the low increase of wages from Rs. 162 to Rs. 167 per day, that too in the drought season.

Villagers opined that, Rs. 5 increase in wages has actually insulted them.

“The government has done us a big favour perhaps by increasing the wages. In some other states, I am told, the increase is not even that,” said 65-year-old Kamlesh Oraon, a marginal farmer. “But we cannot accept such a raise. It is too little. So we are sending the money back to the prime minister... Maybe he'll have some use for it.”

Jharkhand Chief Minister from BJP, Raghubar Das, in the recent March, sought Centre, to release the due NREGA funds immediately. Workers said that, they are not paid any wages for more than three months.

Economist Jean Dreze, one of the architects of the MNREGA act said, as the drought was severe, NREGA could have been a great relief.

“NREGA was meant to be a saviour for the poor. But there are no funds. It is not a good thing at all,” he said.

Commenting upon the wage hike, Dreze said, the increase by Rs. 5 after a number of requests was a textbook case of too little too late. “The wages should have been raised to at least Rs. 300 in these times,” he opined.

The issue is now on full heat among the villagers, Unless the Prime Minister personally intervenes and solves the issue, it is tough to comeback to the normal.

By Phani Ch

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NREGA  Modi  Jharkhand news