BENGALURU: The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department has suspended as many as 100 Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) and five executive officers for ‘significant’ delay in payment of wages to workers of the department.
According to official sources, the RDPR Department has suspended as many as five Taluk Executive Officers in Tumakuru, Yadgir and Chitradurga districts, besides PDOs across the state.
Confirming the move, Munish Moudgil, Commissioner, RDPR Department, said, “The action has had its positive impact in the disbursal of wages to workers.” He told Express that action was initiated by invoking the provisions of the penal sections of the MGNREGA Act.
He said that following the department’s move, the gap between the completion of a particular work and payment of wages released has reduced to three days. “Dues in MGNREGA wages to workers now stands at about Rs 10 crore,” he said.
More Stringent Action in Future: To make the officials concerned more sensitive and accountable, the department plans to initiate more stringent action against the guilty officers for causing delay in payment of wages, another senior official said. “In future, the officials concerned will be slapped with a minor punishment, including deprivation of their annual increment,” he added.
“The state government is very particular about payment of wages ... it has also instructed the officials concerned to maintain zero tolerance as far as the issue of payment of wages is concerned,” another senior official said.
The official further said that payment of wages are being remitted directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.