Continue probe but resume MNREGA scheme in Bengal, orders Calcutta high court
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said her govt welcomes the judgement but will review the order as there are arrears from central funds pending for over four years
Kolkata: The Calcutta high court directed on Wednesday that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme must be resumed in West Bengal from August 1 but allowed the Centre to impose conditions and restrictions in the state in view of the allegations of financial irregularities in disbursement of central funds, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
The order was passed by the division bench of chief justice TS Sivagnanam and justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) after a series of hearings on a petition the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity, a farmers’ body, filed last year against the Union government, challenging the non-payment of dues to daily wage labourers over allegations of embezzlement of funds.
West Bengal received ₹7,507.80 crore in 2021-22 under MGNREGA but has not received any central fund since then.
During the hearing, the chief justice said: “All these allegations are from before 2022. You do whatever you want but implement the scheme.”
According to lawyers, the chief justice said: “The scheme does not envisage a situation where it would be put to cold storage for eternity. The central government has sufficient means to inquire into the irregularity in disbursement of wages. However, a line can be drawn between past actions and future steps to be taken for implementation.”
Allowing the Centre to proceed with its enquiry, the court ordered that the scheme should be implemented in Bengal from August 1.
The written order was not released by the high court till the filing of this report.
Suspension of the Centre’s share (60%) of MGNREGA funds has been a major political issue in Bengal since 2022 with the ruling Trinamool Congress regularly accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of selectively depriving the poor in the state. TMC leaders and MPs have held demonstrations in Delhi as well.
The Union ministry of rural development stopped the MGNREGA funds on December 24, 2021 without citing any reason, Amit Mitra, principal chief advisor to the chief minister, said in October 2023. Mitra said the Centre sent a letter to the state on March 9, 2022, saying the action was taken under Section 27 of MGNREGA.
Section 27 says: “The central government may, on receipt of any complaint regarding the issue or improper utilisation of funds granted under this Act in respect of any scheme if prima facie satisfied that there is a case, cause an investigation into the complaint made by any agency designated by it and if necessary, order stoppage of release of funds to the scheme and institute appropriate remedial measures for its proper implementation within a reasonable period of time.”
In December 2023, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh topped the list of states where fake job cards for the scheme had been cancelled.
On January 30, 2024, Banerjee announced that she would continue with the scheme with the state’s 40% contribution to the funds.
“If we cannot provide the guaranteed 100 days of work because of the Centre, we will provide 40 days of employment with our funds,” she said on that day.
On February 2, 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out its first raids in Bengal to probe the alleged irregularities. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) called the raids “politically motivated.”
On February 3, 2024, Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi refuting a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report on delay in submission of utilisation certificates for various central schemes.
Calling it a “false propaganda,” she said her government submitted all utilisation certificates to the respective Union ministries on time.
In July 2024, Banerjee alleged that she was stopped from speaking at the Niti Ayog meeting when she tried to raise several issues including suspension of MGNREGA funds.
After the high court passed its order on Wednesday, Banerjee said: “The Centre sought 156 clarifications and we answered them all. We welcome the judgement but our government will review it because we will first ask for the arrears (central funds) pending over four years. Beneficiaries who had put in labour should be paid in full. When our MPs and MLAs went to Delhi to demand these funds, police cases were registered against them. Have you forgotten that?”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) justified the suspension of funds saying the Centre is answerable to the people.
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “We, too, want the scheme to start. The high court has allowed the Centre to continue with the investigations and impose regulations because it is a fact that funds were embezzled. The Centre is answerable to taxpayers and the CAG.”
