LUCKNOW, March 2 -- The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) will launch a statewide agitation if the state government fails to release pending payments to MGNREGA workers within ten days. "If the pending payments of MGNREGA workers are not released within 10 days, we will launch district-level agitations across the state and continue until the payments are made," said Ajay Rai, state Congress chief, at a press conference on Sunday. "A total of Rs 1,600 crore is pending against one crore active job cards under MGNREGA. The last payment under MGNREGA was made on January 2. The BJP is trying to scrap MGNREGA and, in a bid to do so, is attempting to withhold even genuine payments. But the Congress will not allow this," said Rai and Tanuj Punia, MP and chairman of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) department of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. Sandip Dixit, coordinator for MGNREGA, said payments are pending for skilled labour, unskilled labour and even for materials used in the work, which are to be paid to vendors. RP Gautam, chairman of the SC department of the All India Congress Committee, said, "The BJP is afraid, and a recent incident in Barabanki shows this. They first gave permission for a Dalit Chintan programme and then denied it, saying permission was withdrawn due to Holi. Ajay Rai, UP Congress chief who had planned to visit Fatehpur district, was restricted to his house by Lucknow Police on Sunday. Rai had planned to visit the family of a shiksha mitra who was deployed in the SIR duty and had allegedly killed himself inside a primary school room on Saturday after being 'denied leave' to arrange his daughter's wedding. "I don't know why cops have been deployed at my house to stop me even as the programme is peaceful," said Rai. "It seems the government is aware of the wrongdoings that have resulted in tremendous pressure on BLOs. I have visited houses of 24 BLOs," he said. htc...