Rozgar Update 119: PAEG meeting, UID Petition and News Items

[Rozi Roti]

दोस्तों,

नया रोज़गार अपडेट आपके सामने है. जैसे की ख़बरों में छप रहा है, नरेगा में भ्रष्टाचार के कई घटनाएँ सामने आ रही है, और उच्चतम न्यायलय तक भी एक मामला पहुँच गया है. यह और नरेगा में अड़चन पैदा करने के बाकी कोशिशों को देखते हुए "रोज़गार गारंटी के लिए जन अभियान" (PAEG) दोबारा से एक-जुट होने की सोच रहा है. PAEG की अगली बैठक २४ दिसंबर को दिल्ली में होगी, जिसका आमंत्रण इस अप्दते में है. अगर आप नरेगा से जुडी कोई खबर या दस्तावेज़ इन अपडेट के माध्यम से भिजवाना चाहते हैं तो roz...@gmail.com पर लिखें.

आशीष

Dear Friends

Please find the latest rozgar update. As news reports suggest, cases of corruption in the NREGA continue, with matters reaching the apex court too. Given this and other attempts to scuttle the NREGA and continuous denial of rights under the act, People's Action for Employment Guarantee is planning to re-group. Please find attached the event invite for their meeting on the 24th of December.

Warmly
आशीष

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1. Important News Articles and Reports

1.1 Supreme Court on Irregularities in NREGA in Orissa [Find Here]
1.2 NREGA Payment Row Sparks Violence in Bengal [Find Here]
1.3 NYTimes: Indian State Empowers Poor to Fight Corruption [Find Here]
1.4 Probe ordered in alleged Scam in Gujarat [Find Here]

2. Petition: Keep UID Out of NREGA [Petition Text and list of Endorsees Attached] [News Articles here]

3. Events

3.1 Meeting by "People's Action for Employment Guarantee": 24th December, 2010 at the NFIW office (1002, Ansal Bhawan, 16 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi) at 11 a [Minutes of Meeting on Nov 24 2010 and PAEG Concept Note Attached]
3.2 NREGA Mela By Ministry of Rural Development: Feb 2, 2011, Vigyan Bhawan [Details here]
3.3 Conference - The Role of IT in NREGA: 17th & 18th December, Tata Institute of Social Sciences [Details here]

4. From the Field

4.1 2808 MGNREGA workers will sit on indefinite Dharna on 13th December-2010 to demand their due wages and unemployment allowance since last two years in Dahod (Via NREGA Workers Union, Dahod, Gujarat)
 
Angered by the indifference and injustice meted out by the Gujarat Government, 2808 MGNREGS workers will sit on indefinite Dharna on 13th December in Dahod, to demand their due wages and unemployment allowance which they have not been paid since the last two years.
In 2008 March 2808 workers built community wells, protection wall, check-wall in different villages of 7 talukas in Dahod district under MGNREGS. In spite of two years having passed, these workers have not received wages till date.
 
In another instance, in April 2010, 900 workers in Fatepura taluka demanded work under MGNREGS, but they have not been given work till date. 225 workers among them had demanded unemployment allowance as per the provisions of the act. They had submitted application demanding unemployment allowance, to the TDO of Fatepura and DDO of Dahod. In this instance too, no action has been taken by the district authority despite eight months having passed.
 
Despite consistent efforts to meet and follow-up with taluka and district authorities, these workers have not received their wages. Hence the MGNREGA workers union is organizing rally and indefinite Dharna starting 13th December, in front of the DDO office and will submit a memorandum. Nearly 3000 NREGA workers will sit on dharna and they will not withdraw their dharna until they receive their wages.

(Rozgar updates are regular updates on NREGA prepared by volunteers and circulated among organisations and individuals working on NREGA The updates are currently being prepared by Aashish Gupta with advice from Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera. If you have any material to share for wide circulation, please send to roz...@gmail.com.)