Narayanpatna: Residents of Bari village under this block in Koraput district Friday drove contractors out of the village as they failed to get their wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) eight months after the completion of a project.
The two contractors – Kamesh Tadingi and Sukanand Tadingi – had come to meet the block development officer (BDO) here to request him to disburse the money towards payment of wages. To their utter disappointment, the BDO was absent in the office that day.
Kamesh and Sukanand said Rs 5 lakh was sanctioned under the job card scheme for laying a road at Chikalgumandi village last year. The workers engaged in the construction work got wages in the first phase. However, the project was left left half-done as the money sanctioned for it was not sufficient.
Later, junior engineer, assistant engineer and the BDO visited the village to see the road work. They sought completion of the project and promised to disburse the balance amount immediately. Rs 3 lakh was estimated to be spent for the remaining work.
Villagers engaged in the road project worked for over a month under Kamesh and Sukanand without payment. However, over eight months have passed since the work got completed while wages are yet to be disbursed, the contractors rued.
Officials, who had visited the site, could not be approached. The contractor duo had approached the block officials several times but in vain. Whenever, the junior engineer is approached, he pleaded that they have not received the money yet. He used to advise them to move the district collector, the contractors said.
Villagers had warned them several times of facing dire consequences if they failed to give their wages. As the contractors failed to clear their payments, the residents drove them out of the village.
When contacted, junior engineer H Marandi admitted that he had directed resumption of the road work and disburse the required funds immediately. However, they failed to disburse the money under the job card scheme as no funds have come to them for several months, he added. PNN