MGNREGA contractors hold protest in Kupwara’s Tarathpora over payment delay

Kupwara, Mar 24: A group of MGNREGA contractors Tuesday staged a peaceful protest outside the Block Office Tarathpora, Ramhall area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, alleging irregularities in the disbursement of their pending payments.

The protestors accused the officials of giving preference to works executed in 2024 while ignoring their pending bills from 2023. “We have completed our works in 2023, but our payments are still pending. The influential persons are getting their bills cleared while contractors like me are being made suffer for none of our fault,” said a contractor.

Meanwhile, Block Development Officer (BDO) Tarathpora, Dr. Rasik Hameed refuted the allegations, terming them as baseless. He said that payments are being disbursed strictly as per the serial order of bills. He clarified that one of the protesting contractors had his bill at serial number 13, which is correct, but due to limited funds, the payment could not be released.

He assured that once sufficient funds are received, the pending payment will be cleared on priority as per the existing queue.