Citizens’ group Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) emerged unconvinced by the government’s position on the delay in disbursing financial aid under the Chief Minister’s Relief Against Wage Loss (CRAWL) scheme.
“If you can transfer Rs 700 or Rs 1,400 of the promised Rs 2,100, then why has the rest not been transferred?” TUR’s Angela Rangad said today.
Rangad and a delegation representing domestic workers, taxi drivers, street hawkers and construction workers met Principal Secretary in the Labour Department, GHP Raju.
According to the department, there are 3,004 such beneficiaries who received only a portion of the Rs 2,100 under the CRAWL scheme.
There are also more than 30,000 eligible recipients who have yet to get their hands on the emergency funds because, the government says, there are problems with the details – names, bank account number, etc – they provided. These beneficiaries’ funds have already been transferred to their respective banks but cannot be passed on because of these issues.
TUR refused to buy this argument and said that the department should verify the names of those who have received the funds and those who have not and not rely on the banks. To the department’s assertion that it does not have the manpower to carry out the verification on its own, TUR said that the Dorbar Shnongs can provide the necessary help in this respect.
Rangad suggested that the government should create a portal with the names of the beneficiaries, so that they can find out if there are any discrepancies in the names or phone numbers.
Meanwhile, on the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) who are registered with the Labour Department, Rangad said that, there are still some that did not receive the Rs 5,000 in aid despite government claims that 25,000 labourers have benefited.
Some of the BOCW did not receive the funds because they had not renewed their papers with the government. TUR said that, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the renewal fee of Rs 10 should have been waived as a “special Covid exemption”.
