People working under the Prime Minister’s Employment Programme in Dhangadhi, Kailali, have complained that they are being denied of timely wages.

Prakash BK—who is the supervisor of the programme in Dhangadhi Wards-14, 18 and 19—said that the programme coordinator had assured the first installment of the wage would be made within 15 days of the commencement of work. “It has been more than two weeks since we started work but the programme coordinator has not taken any initiatives to provide the wages to workers. The ward chiefs and I hired workers promising them timely wages. Now the workers are coming to us with their grievances,” said BK.

BK said that he informed the programme coordinator Chandra Bahadur Mahara about the matter of impending wages but the latter has paid no heed to his complaints.

Disgruntled at the payment delay, the workers have threatened to picket the Dhangadhi Sub-metropolis office. A worker, preferring anonymity, said that the dissatisfied workers would launch protests if they are not paid for their services by Tuesday. The programme coordinator has promised workers payment by Tuesday latest.

Programme Coordinator Mahara admitted that there has been a delay in paying the workers. He said, “Yes, we haven’t been able to pay the wages. The technicians have been put in charge of disbursing wages, but they are currently busy in office work because it’s the end of the current fiscal year.”

Speaking to the Post, Mahara assured of payment to the workers as early as Tuesday.

Thirty workers have been working in each ward of Dhangadhi under the Prime Minister’s Employment Programme that kicked off last month. There are 19 wards in the sub-metropolis. The programme had been allocated a budget of Rs 10 million