Public hearing on National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Hundreds of labourers from across the country participated in a public hearing on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) here today, demanding its public monitoring at the panchayat level and restoration of the foodgrain component of wages.

The labourers, who had assembled under the banner of the CPI(ML)-led All India Agricultural Labour Association (AIALA), also demanded that the amount and date of payment of wages be compulsarily displayed on the job card and that steps be taken to free the scheme from the scourge of political and social discrimination at the grassroot level.

The demands, including comments by representatives from Bihar, Asom, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other states were conveyed to Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh through a memorandum, a spokesman for the AIALA said.

Besides agricultural labourers from 18 states, activists Justice Rajinder Sachar, Jean Dreze, Amit Bhaduri, Arvind Kejriwal, Aruna Roy, Sandeep Pandey, Prashant Bhushan, Anil Chamaria and Anand Pradhan participated in the public hearing.

UNI VN YA HS1811