Ministers assurance to Rozgar Sevaks demands

CUTTACK: Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and three of his party colleagues on Sunday assured the Nikhila Orissa Gram Rozgar Sevak Sangha that the demands of the multi-purpose assistants will be given due consideration. Addressing a zonal meeting of the sangha here, the Energy Minister said though the demands of gram rozgar sevaks (GRS) appears genuine, it may not be possible for the Government to take a decision before the panchayat election. He appreciated the manner in which the sangha had taken up the issue of the GRS and assured all possible cooperation within the frame work of the Government. Government deputy chief whip and chief advisor of the GRS Sangha Arun Sahu and BJD MLAs Prabhat Ranjan Biswal and Priti Ranjan Ghadei also promised their cooperation.  The GRS, working at gram panchayat level and playing a lead role in the implementation of the MGNREGS, have been demanding regularisation of their services. Even as GRSs are doing the job of multi-purpose assistants starting from job card registration to online entry of daily expenditure, they are paid a paltry honorarium of ` 3,000 a month. Having minimum qualification of graduation, each of the GRSs is computer literate and they have been trained by the Panchayati Raj Department to handle accounting system of MGNREGS at panchayat level. Apart from maintaining cash books of NREGS, Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF), Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and Public Distribution System (PDS), they are also engaged in verification of bogus ration cards. They are also assisting the Government in timely distribution of pension to widows, old age and physically challenged persons at village level. The Government has provided a laptop to each GRS in the 6,234 gram panchayats of the State for online data entry and the GRSs have shown excellent results.  Meanwhile, the Government has enhanced the honorarium of contractual gram panchayat technical assistants (GPTA) from ` 5,000 to ` 9,300 a month. The GRS are doing no less job than the GPTA. There is no reason to deprive them of a similar remuneration, said sangha president Badri Narayan Mohanty.