Palghar: Employees take unpaid absence to protest the villagers’ inspection of Jal Jeevan Mission projects

Over 370 “gram sevaks,” or village laborers, in the Palghar district of Maharashtra have taken an indefinite leave of absence in protest at the villagers’ “audit” of the work being done under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

According to PTI, gram sevaks in Palghar taluka who are protesting say they are being unjustly singled out since they were not engaged in the initiative’s inception or execution.

According to Suchit Gharat, president of the Palghar Gramsevak Sanghatana, the Zilla Parishad CEO has been notified of their decision. The article further said that Gharat stressed how unjustly gram sevaks are being treated as scapegoats.

One such initiative is the Jal Jeevan Mission, which seeks to provide rural houses with sufficient and safe drinking water via individual tap connections.

A group of sixteen engineers from the region had earlier threatened to take a mass leave of absence in opposition to the audit, which sought to identify shortcomings in the mission’s execution. To find flaws, the taluka’s works have been examined by the residents for many days under the guidance of an NGO.

According to a different PTI report, the assistant returning officer for the Palghar Lok Sabha seat has directed that government workers who disobey the model code of conduct face disciplinary action.

Previously, a minimum of sixteen engineers from Palghar Zilla Parishad had contemplated taking a collective leave of absence in opposition to the audit. They notified the executive engineer of the Zilla Parishad of their choice via a letter on Thursday.

Over the last three days, personnel have reportedly been checking the area for building errors. Conflicts with engineers have arisen from this, and some employees have spent a considerable amount of time behind bars.

The engineers wrote that they were afraid the commotion around the audit would affect their well-being and morale. According to the PTI story, the official said they felt compelled to take a collective leave of absence till a higher-level decision is made.

Within the framework of the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ initiative, which was introduced by the national government in 2019, the goal of the Jal Jeevan Mission is to provide piped water to every rural household by 2024. Decentralization and community involvement in the planning, creation, and management of water delivery systems are highly valued.

To assess the work being done in accordance with the plan, a team from the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) has been traveling to many areas of Maharashtra, including as Palghar, Raigad, Sindhudurg, and Pune. Their goal is to work in tandem with local law enforcement and community members to ensure that the mission is carried out effectively and on schedule.