MGNREGA Verdict In, But Tug of War Lingers in Bengal

Even as both the TMC and the BJP claim 'victory' after the Calcutta HC's order on resumption of MGNREGA in the state, political fault lines are likely to widen before Assembly polls next year, explain Ishita Ayan Dutta & Sanjeeb Mukherjee

- Ishita Ayan Dutta & Sanjeeb Mukherjee

In a landmark judgment last week, the Calcutta High Court directed the Centre to resume the implementation of the stalled Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in West Bengal from August 1, prospectively.

The Centre had put on hold the release of funds under the scheme since March 9, 2022, in accordance with the provisions under section 27 of the MGNREGA, 2005, due to non-compliance of its directives.

According to a reply tabled in Parliament, total unpaid dues of around ₹5,583 crore towards West Bengal were pending under MGNREGS till August 1, 2023. Of this amount, ₹2,770 crore was purely on account of pending wages, while payment for material accounted for the rest.

The suspension of the scheme had triggered a political storm in the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-ruled state, with both the ruling party and the principal Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blaming each other for the mess.

The TMC had repeatedly alleged that it was Centre's "stepmotherly attitude" towards Bengal and its "politics of subjugation" that blocked the scheme, depriving the poor of their rightful dues. The Centre, on the other hand, alleged that it was "rampant corruption" and "nepotism" on the ground that had forced its hand. A group of TMC legislators had even staged a dharna in Delhi demanding resumption of MGNREGA and other social-sector schemes covering rural housing and rural roads that had remained stalled over allegations of rampant corruption.