Plea for payment of NREGP wages through post offices

Citing problems in operating bank accounts to receive wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), local panchayat officials and self-help group workers have urged government to allow payments through post offices to make the Centre's flagship scheme fully effective.    

At a meeting organised here yesterday by WELLS, a non-governmental organisation, they said the workers found it a daunting task to open bank accounts in view of "complex procedures".    

Besides the banks were situated far off from remote hamlets and the entire procedure to collect the wages was time consuming, resulting in loss of man days, speakers at the meeting said.    

They suggested that post offices could instead be involved in the process where accounts could be opened and money deposited could be be easily collected by the beneficiaries.    

Some participants also complained that the wages paid to the workers in some places were lower than the stipulated amount.    

Local body members, panchayat union chairpersons and voluntary organisations, including SHGs, attended the meeting.