Mann Government Helpless Before Bureaucracy! Instead of Regularization, NREGA Employees Face Threats of Termination; Struggle Intensifies…
Faridkot, July 9 (Alexander D’Souza): The Bhagwant Mann government’s claim of providing 70,000 new jobs in the state was exposed as a falsehood when senior officials from the Rural Development and Panchayat Department flatly refused to regularize NREGA employees who have been working in temporary positions for the past 18 years.
NREGA employees have been staging a continuous sit-in protest for the last 37 days, demanding the regularization of their services through a merger with the department. Speaking to journalists today at the Zila Parishad office in Faridkot, NREGA Employees Union District President Harpinder Singh, Block President Harbans Singh, Khushpreet Singh, and Balraj Singh expressed strong resentment regarding the attitude of both the government and the bureaucracy.
“Government Has No Control Over Bureaucracy; Even Ministers Appear Helpless”:
Union leaders stated that during panel meetings held on June 1, June 10, and July 2 with Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, the cabinet ministers had acknowledged the legitimacy of all the employees’ demands. The government had instructed senior Panchayat Department officials to attend the July 7 meeting; however, during that meeting, the bureaucracy completely reneged on the promise to regularize the employees.
Levelling serious allegations, the leaders stated that the Punjab government has no control over the arbitrary actions of the bureaucracy. During the meeting, the Panchayat Minister himself appeared helpless before his department’s officials. Instead of regularizing the employees—who have contributed significantly to rural development for 18 years—and paying their eight months of outstanding salaries, they are now being threatened with termination.
According to the affected employees, Minister Sond threatened that if the strike was not called off, they would be dismissed and fresh recruitment would be conducted. This statement has sparked massive outrage among NREGA employees across Punjab. Employees state that while the Akali-BJP and Congress previously exploited them for political gain, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government—which came to power on the slogan of ‘change’—has also proven to be completely anti-employee.
A Decisive Battle: Major Announcement to Intensify the Struggle
Faced with this intransigent attitude from the bureaucracy and the government, MGNREGA employees have collectively sounded the bugle for a fierce struggle and announced the following protests for the coming days:
July 10: Effigies of the Punjab government will be burned outside all Zila Parishad offices across Punjab.
July 12: Following Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s return from Bengaluru, NREGA employees will attend his ‘Lok Milani’ (public interaction) programs to confront him with direct questions.
July 15: Thousands of employees will gather in Khanna to lay siege to the residence of Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond and hold a massive protest rally.
NREGA employees and union leaders from across the district were present in large numbers on this occasion, pledging to wage a decisive battle against the government.
News: 9-2
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