17 MGNREGA rozgar sevaks sacked
TNN | Feb 21, 2014, 10.09AM IST
DALTONGANJ: Seventeen rozgar sevaks under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have been dismissed in Palamu for failing to expedite Aadhaar linkage of job cards in the district.
Palamu deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar, who is also the district coordinator of MGNREGA, issued the dismissal order of the MGNREGA sevaks of 17 blocks on Thursday.
Bhagirath Prasad, district nodal officer for MGNREGA, said the 17 sevaks, including two women, had been asked to link job cards to Aadhaar cards for launch of direct transfer scheme in Palamu. But even after repeated alerts, they delayed linkage process affecting the central scheme.
Also, said Prasad, "the rozgar sevaks did not generate any employment between October 2013 and January 2014 and job cardholders in 17 of the 20 blocks in Palamu had to seek work outside their panchayat or remained idle".
However, Prasad said they were not the only rozgar sevaks who are eluding their duties. "There are many more. But we cannot dismiss everyone as that will lead to chaos and a major vacuum," he said. In three blocks - Harihurganj, Manatu and Tarhassi - linkage process has started albeit late. Advertisement for fresh recruitment will be issued soon, said Prasad.
With 17 dismissals, number of rozgar sevaks in Palamu is now 238. Sources said the administration was asked by state rural development department to sack them in December 2013 but the administration here gave them time to perform.