Imphal, February 05, 2009: TAKING SERIOUS note over the alleged failure of various Central-sponsored developmental schemes/programme in the state and the various breakdowns within the ministry, the Manipur Peoples' Party (MPP) has today demanded the resignation of the state Rural Development and Panchayti Raj minister from his post on moral ground.

In a press statement, the MPP general secretary (political affairs and local bodies), H Manisana Singh said that the Central flagship programme National Rural Employees Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) which guarantee hundred days of labour wages is a failure in Manipur.

It said that umpteen times, the warning bell has been ringed before by Panchayati workers and experts due to malfunctioning by the respective district coordinators.

But the concerned minister has deafened his ear to the whole situation who now is eager to take action against district coordinators only when the Congress president Sonia Gandhi remarked that NREGS in Manipur is a failure.

It said that the act of the minister who, seems to awake from a deep sleep, is like a good joke.

Attributing the main reason for the failure of NREGS in the state to respective DCs/programme coordinators, it stated that even till the end of the financial year 2008-09, the DCs are unable to implement 30 percent of the annual labour budget of the scheme in the whole valley districts where panchayati raj institutions have been functional.

It said that the proposed work programme should be notified by the Gram Sabha on October 2 on priority basis.

Then, the programme has to be approved latest by December 31 by the Zilla Parishad including the technical and administrative approval.

The budget would then be allocated and released according to the number of job card holders in the gram panchayats.

After utilizing 60% of the sanctioned amounts, the remaining amount should be drawn after sending the UC to the Central government.

This way, annual labour budgets have to be drawn and utilized, it pointed out.

The statement further lamented that instead of trying to accomplish the time-bound process, the respective DCs who also acted as the programme coordinators, have given priority to only those panchayats who lobbied and neglected the others.

As such, the DCs have failed to deliver even 10 days wages out of the targeted 100 days in a year, it charged while asking whether it is the way of a responsible minister � who could not control the misconduct of the authority in time � to act.

Charging the minister as a panchayat minister who doesn't work for the interest of the panchayat, who could not raise the monthly salary of district council members to more than Rs 10,000, one who could not give concrete power to the local self government, who could not increase the honorarium of Rs 300 of panchayati workers to Rs 1000, refusing to include panchayat members in the selection of old age pensioners, oil and rice agents and anganwadi worker helpers as per guidelines, the MPP has said that given his inability to perform his duty the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister must resign from his post on moral ground.

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