VIJAYAPURA: For the last six months, Ram Nadagouda has been anxiously waiting for his salary, but except for some assurances, he has not received any payment.
He is now facing acute financial problems and has not been able to pay the rent. Working as information coordinator at the Indi Taluk Panchayat, he is one of over 3,000 outsourced employees at the Panchayat Raj Department who have not been paid for the last six months.
“Our last salary was in January this year. All the employees are in distress and worried,” said Sahil Dhanshetty, state vice-president of the Karnataka State MGNREGA Employees’ Association.
He said 3,145 are outsourced employees in the state. They are not getting their salaries as the government is creating a web portal to disburse funds for salaries. “When we contacted the officials, they said the process is on to update software,” he said.
The association is going on a non-cooperation movement from Sunday. Association district president Prithviraj Patil said, “We understand this movement may cause inconvenience to officials, NREGA workers, elected members and villagers, but under current circumstances, we request everyone to support our cause.”
ZP CEO Rishi Anand said, “We have been raising the matter with the government. They have assured us that the issue will be addressed soon.”