SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya has directed the State Government to examine all the documents of the 594 MGNREGS beneficiaries in various VECs in Selsella Block whose job cards were deleted but some of the names were not reinstated.
Hearing a writ petition filed by Crebilson Marak and Chittaranjan Sangma, the High Court of Meghalaya asked the State Government to reinstate those who are eligible and entitled to MGNREGS. The court further directed that the whole exercise should be completed within one month. The writ petition said the petitioners and 592 other members of the Joint Action Committee, MGNREGS, Selsella C&RD Block, had enrolled themselves as household members under MGNREGS and had obtained job cards under the scheme in 2006 from their respective village employment councils.
The petition added that the Deputy Commissioner cum District Programme Officer in Tura received complaints from public and others that there are some bogus job card holders and some Government servants also obtained job cards fraudulently. The BDO and PO Selsella were to verify the matter by engaging four EACs.
However, some anganwadi workers and outsiders carried out the Socio Economic Census and National Population Registration Census within the jurisdiction of the block, but the enumerators conducted the Census randomly by sitting in the residence of Nokmas.
The Inquiry Officer whimsically and without properly verifying the documents deleted the job cards on the basis of partial census that also without giving any opportunity to beneficiaries to argue the matter.