Salary Withheld for 16 Block Development Officers Over MGNREGA Payment Delays

The Commissioner of Panchayat & Rural Development, Assam, has issued an order to withhold the salaries of 16 Block Development Officers (BDOs) due to their failure in providing timely payments to job cardholders under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The decision comes as a response to the poor performance of these blocks in terms of timely Fund Transfer Order (FTO) generation, violating MGNREGA Act rules. The Commissioner emphasized that timely payment of wages should exceed 90%, and any delay is considered harassment to daily wage workers, reflecting negligence and inefficiency on the part of the program officers. The affected blocks include Kalain Dev. Block, Cachar; Rupshi Dev. Block, Dhubri; Socheng Dev. Block, West Karbi Anglong, and others. The pay will be withheld until the blocks achieve 90% timely FTO generation for MGNREGA wages.