Beed Gram Rozgar Sevaks Protest Assault, Excessive Liabilities

Beed: Protesting an alleged physical assault on an on-duty colleague and the imposition of disproportionate administrative liabilities, Gram Rozgar Sevaks from across Beed district took out a morcha to the Collectorate on Wednesday to press for their demands.

Submitting a memorandum to the authorities, the Viksit Bharat - Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Hami Gram Rozgar Sahayak Sanghatana (Beed district) demanded swift criminal action against the assailants, administrative safeguards and a clear demarcation of their official duties.

The association demanded that police immediately register an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other applicable laws against those who allegedly assaulted a Gram Rozgar Sahayak and obstructed a public servant from discharging official duties.

The memorandum highlighted growing discontent among field workers over being held accountable for technical and clerical discrepancies beyond their remit. The association said a Rozgar Sahayak’s duties are limited to marking muster attendance for unskilled labourers and handling basic village-level employment guarantee work.

It said technical responsibilities, including measuring skilled works, recording Measurement Book (MB) entries, preparing estimates and bills, and conducting quality inspections or granting technical sanctions, fall under the purview of technical and administrative officers.

The association also demanded rectification of software issues in the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), an end to its integration with third-party applications and an end to penalising Rozgar Sahayaks for server or app downtime.

Other demands included the appointment of independent technical supervisors for skilled construction works, termination of irregular appointments of additional Rozgar Sevaks, reinstatement of Sevaks whose services were paused or discontinued despite completing mandatory E-KYC, and speedy disposal of pending departmental appeals.

The association also demanded that supervising engineers and administrative officers be held equally accountable in cases of project irregularities instead of singling out Gram Rozgar Sahayaks.

The association warned that if its demands were not addressed after an impartial inquiry, it would intensify the agitation through district-wide protests and indefinite dharnas. It held the district administration responsible for any disruption to rural employment schemes resulting from the agitation.