5 months ago
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The Union Ministry of Rural Development is presently successful the “process of reworking and refining the indispensable modalities and procedures” to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) strategy successful West Bengal, it told the Rajya Sabha connected Friday (December 5, 2025).
Union Minister of State Kamlesh Paswan filed this reply to a question raised by the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha person Derek O’ Brien.
The Centre stopped releasing MGNREGA funds to West Bengal successful March 2022, citing the State’s continued non-compliance with Central directives, and invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Act. In June this year, the Calcutta High Court ordered the resumption of MGNREGA successful the State. The Centre appealed to the Supreme Court, which sustained the High Court’s bid successful October.
‘Settling governmental scores’
Trinamool Congress MPs staged a protestation successful the Parliament analyzable connected Friday (December 5, 2025), highlighting the pending Central dues for West Bengal, and accusing a “vindictive regime” of starving an full State to settee governmental scores. The Centre owes the State ₹3,082.52 crore, of which ₹1,457.22 crore is the wages owed for completed enactment by registered workers.
Before the funds were stopped successful March 2022, West Bengal was 1 of the top-performing states nether the scheme, Mr. O’Brien told The Hindu. “These workers dug ponds, repaired roads, built embankments. They earned their wages honestly. For implicit 3 years, they person waited silently, invisibly,” helium said.
Had the strategy continued without a break, the TMC claims that ₹45,000 crore would person been spent successful the State successful the 3 years since March 2022. Mr. O’Brien asked: “After implicit 3 years of freezing funds, does the [Union] authorities judge that it has efficaciously converted a ineligible right-to-work into a governmental limb against Bengal’s agrarian people?”
Only 20% funds left
Nationwide, the strategy has already spent astir 80% of allocated funds for the fiscal twelvemonth 2025-26, with astir 4 months near successful the year. The full fund allocation for the twelvemonth was ₹86,000, of which astir ₹68,400 crore has been spent, the Ministry told the Rajya Sabha.
There are a 27.64 crore registered workers nether the strategy retired of which 12.16 crore are progressive workers. A beneficiary who has worked during the past 3 fiscal years is called an progressive idiosyncratic nether the scheme.
