Lohardaga (Jharkhand): In the absence of
banking services in rural Jharkhand, some labourers had sold
their MGNREGA cheques to `middlemen` for a discount to get the
money on the spot, state Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Singh
said on Wednesday.
"Recently I went to Chatra and learnt that a MGNREGA
labourer had sold his Rs 100 cheque to get Rs 70," Singh said
at a programme in the presence of RBI Governor D Subbarao.
Subbarao, who demonstrated the working of a machine that
would be carried by agents to facilitate withdrawal and
deposit of money in banks, promised that banking services
would reach the customers` doorsteps.
In order to stop middlemen from siphoning off wages
earned by labourers under MNREGA, the government had last year
had facilitated opening of bank accounts for the
beneficiaries. However, banking service in rural Jharkhand is
negligible.
PTI
