Update 122: Murder of Nrega activist Niyamat Ansari, NREGA in parliament, and more

[Rozi Roti]

Dear friends

 

This is an emergency Update, following the recent murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari in Latehar District. All the available information on this tragic incident is being uploaded at www.nrega.net.in as and and when it emerges.

Niyamat Ansari, a courageous and tireless NREGA activist in Manika, Latehar District (Jharkhand) was murdered brutally on the 2nd of March, 2011. He had exposed a glaring scam on 21st February in Rankikala Gram Panchayat. An FIR was lodged against the former BDO of Manika, Kailash Sahu, and more than Rs. 2 Lakhs were recovered from him. This is apart from the many other cases of embezzlements Niyamat and his associates had uncovered. Some news items have raised questions about Niyamat's character, alleging that the SP and DC had sent a letter to the MoRD which stated that there were charges of attempt to murder and burning of huts against him. The SP's letter does not make such an allegation and the publication in question published an apology for misreporting. The local committee of the CPI (Maoist) has taken responsibility for this murder, on very flimsy grounds. The rest of the update follows, but before that, we would like to offer our condolences to Niyamat's colleagues (some of whom are still facing threats in Latehar), friends and family.
 
This attack is apart from another attack on an activist in Barmer, who was attacked in a government sponsored social audit. A worker in Jharkhand, Subal Mahato, was killed for demanding the new revised wages in the NREGA. As you are aware, many other activists have had to meet a similar fate. We are now adding documents related to Niyamat's death on the website www.nrega.net.in, and you can check statements issued by various groups (PUDR, Right to Food Campaign and others) as well as a recent video testimony (with transcript) by Niyamat Ansari. We are adding documents to the website as we go.

 

Please note that at 8:30 today, NDTV 24*7 will have special coverage on Niyamat Ansari's murder on its program "India Matters".

Warmly
Aashish

दोस्तों 

 जैसे की आप जानते होंगे, मनिका, लातेहार (झारखण्ड) के झुझारू नरेगा कार्यकर्ता नियामत अंसारी की २ मार्च २०११ बेरहमी के साथ हत्या कर दी गयी थी. उन्होंने २० फरवरी को रान्किकला पंचायत में अपने दोस्तों के साथ नरेगा में हो रही एक बड़ी गड़बड़ी पकड़ी थी, जिसके कारण पूर्व प्रखंड विकास अधिकारी कैलाश साहू के खिलाफ प्रथिमिकी दर्ज की गयी थी, और २ लाख रूपए से ज्यादा की रकम भी वसूली गयी थी. यह नियामत के द्वारा पाई गयी कई और अनियमितताओं में से एक है. कुछ लेखों ने नियामत के ऊपर इल्जाम लगाये थे, यह कहकर की पोलिस अधीक्षक और उपयुक्त ने नियामत के खिलाफ एक पत्र ग्रामीण विकास मंत्रालय को भेजा है, जिसमें उनके ओप्पर हत्या और घर जलाने के आरोप हैं. पुलिस अधीक्षक के पत्र में ऐसे कोई इलज़ाम नहीं लगाये गए हैं, और उस पत्रिका ने भी यह छपने के लिए माफ़ी मांगी है. भारतीय कोम्मुनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी) की लातेहार दक्षिण सब-कमिटी ने इस हत्या की ज़िम्मेदारी ली है.  

 

यह नरेगा में काम कर रहे कार्यकर्ताओं के ऊपर पहला हमला नहीं है. हाल ही में, राजस्थान के बारमेर जिले में मंगलराम, एक दलित कार्यकर्त्ता पर सरकारी सामाजिक अंकेक्षण करते हुआ हमला किया गया, और झारखण्ड में ही सुब्बल महतो नाम के नरेगा मजदूर की मारकर हत्या कर दी गयी थी, क्योंकि उन्होंने नरेगा के अन्दर बधाई गयी मजदूरी की मान्फ्ग की थी. हम वेब साईट पर नियामत अंसारी की हर्य से जुड़ी जानकारी दाल रहे हैं, और अभी वहां पर उनकी हत्या के तथ्य, संगठनों के वक्तव्य हैं.  रोज़गार अपडेट संलग्न है, मगर उससे पहले हम नियामत के दोस्तों, परिवार जनों और साथियों को सहानभूति व्यक्त करते हैं.

 

आशीष

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1. From the Field

1.1 NREGA Activist Niyamat Ansari brutally Murdered [Details here & here] [News Articles here] [Statement by Right to Food Campaign, PUDR and "Justice for Niyamant Ansari" attached]

 

1.2 NREGA Activist attacked in Barmer, Rajasthan while conducting governement sponsored social audit [News article here]

1.3 Job Cards for NREGA from this financial year

Many of you would know that the validity of existing job cards ends in this financial year, and new Job Cards are to be issued for the next 5 years. However, it seems that most state governments are unprepared for this transition, and quite likely, this is a disaster in the making. In February in Manika, Jharkhand, the NREGA Sahayata Kendra was involved in organising a camp for distributing Job Cards, while friends in other states are currently prusuing the state and the dstrict administration to issue the job cards. In TN, lack of new job cards was circumvented by adding a page to the existing job card.

1.4 Update from Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, Bihar [Find Attached]

1.5 Non-acceptance of Application for Compensation for late payment of NREGA wages in Surguja, Chhattisgarh [Find here]

1.6 Unemployment Allowance paif to 17 workers in Dungarpur, Rajasthan [News article here] [Check details of Unemployment Allowance dut and given in various states here] [Press note in Hindi Attached]

1.7 Foot march finds many irregularities in NREGA in Surguja [Details Here]

2. Developments in Delhi

2.1 New Centralised Auditing Regime for NREGA being Mooted [News article here and here]

3. NREGA in the Parliament
3.1 Status of NREGA in Jharkhand [Find here]

3.2 NREGA Ombudsman appointed in 13 states [Find here]

4. Important News Articles
4.1 200 Days of Work demanded for Sahariya Tribals [Find here]
4.2 NREGA Budget Allocation remains flat [Find here]
4.3 Two villages in UP turn the tide of migration by building canals through NREGA [Find here]
4.4 Bad Idea to Marry UID with NREGA [Find here]
4.5 RTI and NREGA Activist attacked with Axe in Rajastjan [Find here]

4.6 CEGC Defunct since September 2010 [Find here]

5. Reports and Articles
5.1 Note on Urban Right to Work - Via Hazards Centre - For Comments [Find Attached]
5.2 Sankaran (2011): NREGA Wages - Ensuring Decent Work [Find Here]
5.3 Report from Sammelan on NREGA, Right to Work and Gender Issues - Via Nirantar [Find Attached]
5.4 Khera, Reetika (2011): The UID Project and Welfare Schemes [Find here]

 

6. Events

6.1 10th March, 2011, 8:30 PM. NDTV 24*7, Special Coverage on Niyamat Ansari's murder on the Program "India Matters"

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www.nrega.net.in