Jaipur police baton-charge protesting village Panchayat chiefs

JAIPUR - The police personnel baton charged thousands of village Panchayat chiefs here on Wednesday, who had gathered from different parts of the State to stage a demonstration against the social audit of the village councils’ mode of working and execution of projects.

The protestors shouted slogans against the Government and demanded a greater say in the distribution of funds under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme.

They police later had to fire tear gas to disperse the protestors, who pelted stones at them.

In the wake of various NREGA-related corruption cases that came to light recently, the Government has ordered a social audit of the Panchayats (village councils) in order to establish transparency.

Several village councils heads were dismissed for allegedly siphoning off huge chunks of funds from NREGA.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) flagship anti-poverty plan, which began three years ago, provides 100 days of employment every year to tens of millions of rural poor.

The Act, renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, aims at enhancing the livelihood of people living in the rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year, in exchange for unskilled manual work. (ANI)