BJP MDC demands action against agents taking money from central scheme beneficiaries

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaNovember 5, 2023

BJP MDC from Tura Bernard N Marak has demanded strong action against “agents” who are taking money from beneficiaries for implementation of various central schemes. 

In a letter to the deputy commissioners of the five districts in Garo Hills region, Marak said that the central schemes are not related to the local MLAs therefore the MLAS and their agents should be kept in abeyance during the implementation of the Centre schemes. 

“VEC secretaries in some villages are working as political agents, which should not be encouraged. VEC secretaries and Gram Sevaks should work as per the guideline of the central schemes. Strong action should be taken against agents who demanded money from the beneficiaries, as these schemes are free,” he said.

Marak also highlighted the a major issue is people in the villages think that Aadhaar card is related to ‘666’ and banks on the other hand are not linking the beneficiary bank accounts with the Aadhaar card.

“This has created big hurdle in initiating Aadhaar based payment to the beneficiaries. Banks should be requested to link Aadhar to the beneficiary accounts. In South Garo Hills, there should be a bank and mobile connectivity at Rongara and beyond as beneficiaries from that block has to travel around 80 kms to Baghmara for all official activities,” he said.

He said that during his tour, it was found out that none f the blocks and VECs display the permanent waitlist as per the guideline which has led to confusion and misunderstanding apparently leading to exploitation of the beneficiaries by agents who had the permanent waitlist. 

“These agents compelled the poor beneficiaries to pay huge ransom to avail the schemes that was freely available to them. We would appreciate if the permanent waitlists are put up immediately in the blocks and villages. We will verify the steps taken in a week,” Marak said while adding “Blocks in many districts are under staffed. It is very unfortunate that due to lack of Gram Sevaks, Gram Sevikas are doing the field work to cover the Gram Sevak circles which is unfair. Kindly take steps to fill up the vacant posts for better implementation of the schemes. The infrastructure, power back up and limited digital equipment are also issues in many blocks. RGSA, DDU GKY staff’s salaries are not paid, which should be taken up with the Concerned heads.”

He said that the wages under MGNREGA are pending and wages missed out in many VECS during online uploading. 

“Villages without mobile connectivity need to be identified and necessary steps should be taken to connect those areas as soon as possible. The outstanding amount of the materials are also very high. The women also complained of not given a chance to lead the VECS as proper elections were not held,’ he said while requesting the district administrations to address VEC issues and their payments be taken care of and resolved at the earliest.