70-year-old man allegedly asked to fall prostrate before panchayat president

VIRUDHUNAGAR: A 70-year-old man from Kurandi village filed a petition to the collector claiming he was denied an MGNREGA card by the panchayat president owing to personal issues and was asked to fall prostrate before him to get the card. According to sources, V Ganesan (70), a resident of Kurandi village was working under the MGNREGA scheme for many years. However, a few months ago, he submitted his MGNREGA card in order to obtain a new card.

Claiming that he was asked to fall prostrate at the president's feet to receive the card from the secretary, Ganesan said, "They haven't given me the new card despite raising the issue at grama sabha meetings. I haven't been issued a new card due to some personal issues between me and the president."

Reacting to the incident, the panchayat secretary of Kurandi village, R Muthusamy, said the cards were taken back from all villagers under the scheme following its expiry. "The new cards are being distributed to everyone, including Ganesan. The cards expired in March and we issued new cards in April and Ganesan resumed working under the scheme. However, he missed the card and in lieu of coming up with a convincing explanation for the missing card, he has been foisting allegations against us," he said adding that Ganesan was never asked to fall prostrate before the president and that they have taken measures to issue him the new card as soon as possible.