Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday said that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his attention towards the issue of delay in payment of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wages.
“The entire amount of ₹3,524.29 crore released from Government of India to Tamil Nadu during FY 2021-22 has been fully utilised by crediting into the workers account up to 15.09.2021. Since then no further funds has been released towards wages by Government of India which has led to the wage liability of ₹1178.12 crore upto 1-11-2021,” the letter read.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister told Modi the delay in wage payment is causing hardship to thousands of rural households in the state, and may lead to disowning the scheme and prompt urban migration for employment opportunity.
{{/usCountry}}The Tamil Nadu chief minister told Modi the delay in wage payment is causing hardship to thousands of rural households in the state, and may lead to disowning the scheme and prompt urban migration for employment opportunity.
{{/usCountry}}Stalin urged the Centre to release funds in view of the festive season.
Earlier in June, the Centre allocated ₹73,000 crore at the Budget Estimate stage for the MGNREGS for the 2021-22 fiscal year. However, the allocated budget is 34% less than the revised estimate of ₹1,11,500 crore in 2020-21 financial year. However, in terms of budgetary allocation, there has been an increase of ₹11,500 crore, from ₹61,500 crore to ₹73,000 crore during the period under review.
Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of beneficiaries enrolled under the MGNREGA scheme, followed by the states of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the ministry said.