Malda, Jan. 3: Several hundred labourers stormed into the Mathurapur gram panchayat office under the Manikchak police station, ransacked it and set it on fire yesterday afternoon.

The labourers were angry for being denied “legitimate wages” for their work under the 100-day National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. They claimed they were supposed to get Rs 68 per day under the central scheme.

“We had been told that we would be getting Rs 68 per day. But now they are saying we shall get between Rs 14 and Rs 20 per day,” Kshitish Rajak, a labourer said. The panchayat had engaged them for construction of roads at Kankribandha and Tingharia that fall within the panchayat area. The labourers had worked between 15 and 100 days under the scheme.

On the other hand, panchayat pradhan Zahur Khan said: “I cannot violate government rules to please the labourers. The guidelines mention that a female labourer is entitled to get Rs 68 if she cuts 75 sqm of earth, while her male counterpart has to cut 88 sqm to get the same amount. But none of them had done that.”

In the course of the rampage angry labourers beat up block office staff, broke furniture and set the office on fire. Zahur and a sub-assistant engineer of the block development office, Sushanta Laha, were among those assaulted. In protest block office employees boycotted work today.

District magistrate Chittaranjan Das said: “There had been a communication gap between the workers and the panchayat. The subdivisional officer has been asked to intervene for an amicable solution.”