Over 30 villagers of Munjal, Rajnandgaon have waited for more than a year to receive wages owed to them by the Forest Department.
Please call M.R Meshram, of the Chhattisgarh Forest Department on (0)9424138277 to ensure the people of Munjal get their dues immediately.
As part of the Forest Department's rural development initiative, Sunherao & about 30 more villagers were hired to plant saplings. Not only did they toil for over a month in planting these saplings, they also undertook additional roles of tending to the tender saplings. However, when IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent Bhan Sahu met them in November 2013, almost 4 months after they had completed their work, not a single villager had been paid their dues. Even though the villagers had approached the Forest Department more than once, they had been turned away with false assurances. They were promised the stipulated rate of 195 INR per day if they continued working.
Community Correspondent Bhan Sahu is nostalgic about her association with the people of Munjal. "We have struggled together for over a decade now, asserting their claims over land that is rightfully theirs. They are poor people, who are solely dependent on small jobs like this to tide them through their lives. How will they eat, or educate their children if the authorities themselves deny them what is rightfully theirs? What if I hadn't heard this story? Whom would they turn to?"
Our Community Correspondents have often reported how rural initiatives meant for people's development often fail because of delays in paying wages. Many Correspondents have intervened with their cameras & created change in their villages.
Help create change in Munjal too, by calling Mr. Meshram!
Article by: Radhika
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