NSS Persons Grow Wild Over Meagre Allowance

National Service personnel deployed by the National Service Scheme (NSS) to undertake national service across the country for 2014/2015 service year are fuming with anger over what they consider as government�s �deliberate� attempt to frustrate service personnel. The personnel, Today gathered, are angry because they could not understand why government failed to increase the monthly non-taxable allowance of personnel in 2014/2015, considering the high cost of living in the country now. Currently, national service personnel are receiving a monthly allowance of GH�350.00 (three million five hundred old Ghana cedis). That, the personnel intimated, was nothing to write home about, arguing that the current economic hardships are so enormous for such money to sustain them. �It will be prudent for the government of Ghana to increase the meagre monthly allowance of personnel to meet with the current living standard of Ghanaians,� some of the personnel told Today. Some of the service personnel who spoke to Today expressed disappointment in the Mahama administration for drawing national service scheme initiative backward. �Our positing to any place of the country is a punishment rather than a call to serve Ghana,� they averred. The NSS, which is headed by Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, has deployed some 71,189 personnel to undertake national service duties across the country for the 2014/2015 service year. The scheme is particularly targeting the strengthening of the educational sector, thus committing 36,825 personnel to shore up the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of education. This year�s postings focused on personnel providing essential services to government�s priority development areas such as agriculture, edu�cation, health, local govern�ance, security and co-operatives. Personnel will also be committed to areas of research, survey, physical planning, civil engineering, rural industries, environment, energy as well as fields that the scheme may deem pertinent. Out of the total number of deployment, 8,685 were posted to the health sector, 14,405 to the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and 11,274 to the private sector. The Greater Accra region had the largest of personnel, 22,824; 13,537 were posted to the Ashanti region, while the Brong Ahafo region was assigned 5,993 personnel. The rest were Upper East � 2,264; Volta � 3,837; Northern � 5,256; Eastem-5,611; West�ern � 4,5.90; Upper West-2,662, and; Central � 4,615. To this end, the service personnel called on President Mahama to take a second look at the issue of non-increment of service monthly allowance for this year�s service personnel.