COMSO, GSMC demands suspension of 4 DEOs over irregularities in issuing of MGNREGA job cards in Demdema block

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 29, 2025

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) and the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC) have demanded the immediate suspension of four Data Entry Operators (DEOs) for their involvement in the alleged irregularities in the issuance of job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) under the Demdema Block, West Garo Hills and to conduct a door-to-door verification campaign across all affected villages to revoke fraudulently issued job cards.

The demand was made during a meeting convened by the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Dadenggre Civil Sub Division at Demdema Block on Wednesday, following a formal complaint lodged with the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills against the serious violations concerning the unauthorized creation and distribution of job cards under the rural employment scheme.

The meeting was attended by key administrative officials, including the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Demdema, Assistant Programme Officer (APO), Assistant APO, and supporting staff and members of CoMSO and GSMC.

“During the meeting, both CoMSO and GSMC leaders firmly called upon the SDO and BDO to take immediate and stringent disciplinary measures against the four implicated DEOs. We demanded their suspension with immediate effect and the initiation of a comprehensive door-to-door verification campaign across all affected villages to identify and revoke fraudulently issued Job Cards,” said a joint statement of CoMSO and GSMC on Thursday.

“We are pleased to inform the public that the SDO of Dadenggre has assured that appropriate action will be taken, including the suspension of the concerned DEOs and a full-scale verification exercise to cleanse the MGNREGA records of any anomalies. The commitment to uphold administrative accountability is a step in the right direction, but we urge continuous monitoring to ensure implementation,” they said.

They said a detailed assessment revealed that four Data Entry Operators (DEOs) had surreptitiously registered hundreds of Job Cards into the MGNREGA database, overwhelmingly favouring individuals from the Muslim community, without any formal verification or prior approval from the competent authority, namely the BDO.

Alarmingly, in one village alone, close to 200 individuals were registered in a single year without due process, pointing to systemic manipulation of records and gross violation of administrative procedures.

Such misconduct represents not only a severe breach of protocol but also an ethical and legal transgression that compromises the foundational principles of transparency, equity, and justice envisioned under MGNREGA. It undermines public trust, deprives deserving beneficiaries of their rightful entitlements, and erodes the credibility of grassroots governance, they stated further.