New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for the release of central funds to clear pending wages of lakhs of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers in West Bengal.
Since March 2022, the Modi government has stopped the funds under MGNREGS to West Bengal citing non-compliance of the Centre’s directives as per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
Rahul, who met a delegation of MGNREGS workers from the state during his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra, pointed out the “devastating plight” of workers who have not been paid due to stopping of funds.
In his letter dated 10 February, posted on X by ANI, he wrote, “Moreover, there has been a drastic decline in the number of households availing work, from 75 lakh in 2020-21 to under 8,000 households in 2023-24. This massive scale down has been brutal on the most vulnerable — women, SC and ST households. The lack of MGNREGS work and pending wages have forced many to make hard choices — particularly distress migration.”
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The letter reads, “I am writing to you regarding the devastating plight of MGREGS workers in West Bengal, and their relentless fight for justice. During my recent visit to West Bengal as part of the Bharat Jodo… pic.twitter.com/39zjxvuXTW
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024
The Centre and the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government have been at loggerheads over the issue of non-payment of MGNREGS funds. According to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, the central government has not paid Rs 6,913 crore since March 2022. In October last year, party leaders held a protest in Delhi demanding the immediate release of central funds.
Mamata also met Modi in December last year to discuss the issue.
Asking the PM to facilitate the release of funds to clear the dues, Rahul further said, “I believe that we have a duty to rise above our political differences to uphold social, political and economic justice.”
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The Centre’s flagship rural employment scheme was implemented by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2005. Modi had described it a “living monument of the Congress-led UPA’s failures”.
The scheme has played a crucial role in providing employment to migrant workers who had returned to their villages during the Covid pandemic.
West Bengal govt to pay pending wages
The letter to Modi comes days after Mamata announced that the state would pay MGNREGS workers who have been “deprived of their wages” by the BJP-led central government.
During a two-day protest organised in Kolkata against the central government for not giving funds to key schemes such as MGNREGS and the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, the Bengal CM hit out at the BJP government for “depriving rural workers of their wages”. She assured 21 lakh MGNREGS workers that the state government would pay their pending wages by 21 February.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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