UP village headmen rebel against job scheme 'corruption'

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has got 40 village headmen including over 30 women, in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh at their wits end and they have declared rebellion against the powers that be.

The sarpanches have threatened to resign saying the officials should stop extorting commission from them. The immediate provocation was lodging of an FIR by Block Development Officer Sanjay Pande on Sonamati Devi, the pradhan of Rachkhad village. The officer accused her of mishandling funds for the scheme.

Sarpanch Ram Rai Sharma, who heads the agitating sarpanches, said over telephone from Dudhi: "The BDO hit out against Sonamati Devi after she rejected his demand for more bribes. We are forced to pay commissions up to 48 per cent of the amount to officials up to the district level. This includes 8-10 per cent to the panchayat secretary and the engineer and another 30 per cent to the BDO," says Sharma.

"When these payoffs are reflected in wages, we have to face angry villagers. There is no support from the government," says Sharma.

CDO KD Ram called on the sarpanches on Sunday and promised to sort out things by Tuesday, said Abhay Singh of a local NGO, Dudhi Gram Vikas Samiti.

District Magistrate Ajay Shukla said the wrong-doers would be exposed as police were investigating the matter.

"The condition here is really bad. If village headmen are so helpless, what will public do?," says Singh. The headmen announced their intent to resign four days ago but then decided to sit on an agitation under pressure from above.