GoM to look into MGNREGS staff issues

GoM to look into MGNREGS staff issues

Following the formation of Group of Ministers, the 23,000-odd field assistants call off strike

MGNREGS Minister D. Manikya Varaprasada Rao to head the GoM with six Ministers as members

GoM to examine present system of implementing MGNREGS and suggest changes to rectify defects

A Group of Ministers (GoM) was constituted on Wednesday to settle the problems of the field staff of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), following which the 23,000 odd field assistants of the scheme called off their 10-day old strike. The GoM is headed by Rural Development & MGNREGS Minister D. Manikya Varaprasada Rao and has Ministers V. Sunitha Laxma Reddy, Vatti Vasant Kumar, Botcha Satyanarayana, N. Raghuveera Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu and S. Shailajanath. R. Subrahmanyam, Principal Secretary, Rural Development, is its convener. The GoM will examine the present system of implementing the MGNREGS and suggest changes to rectify its defects, if any, to protect the interests of the scheme's beneficiaries and settle the demands of the field staff. The GoM, formed in tune with the decisions taken at the talks held by Rural Development Minister with unions of field staff, comes as a relief as, otherwise, the scheme's implementation during summer when people look to MGNREGS for work, would have been affected. Following the talks, the remuneration of the field assistants, indeed, had been raised to Rs. 3,630 from Rs. 2,200 a month. During the talks, it was also resolved that the GoM would have to submit its report within 30 days from the date of its constitution. Further hike sought Meanwhile, a delegation led by B. V. Raghavulu, State CPI (M) secretary, and J. Ranga Reddy, MLA, met Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, seeking further hike in the salary to the field assistants to Rs 8,400 a month according to GO No 3. M. Bhoopal, secretary, CITU which spearheaded the agitation, threatened that the strike would be re-launched if the field staff problems were not solved in 30 days. The main demands of the field staff included formulation of a human resource policy and measures for job security.