DEPRIVED OF THEIR DUES

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC again crosses swords with the Centre over the freezing of funds for the NREGS and PMAY-G schemes in Bengal. Meanwhile, common people eagerly await an end to their misery 

- Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Arati Das watches her step as she sets foot into her room, for she can easily knock over the earthen pot of rice kept by the door. It’s a cost Arati can hardly bear, for she can afford to cook only once a day. The 42-year-old was forced to take up a job as a seamstress after the local panchayat stopped providing her employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). Her husband Dilip, 50, works at a garment factory. “Earlier, I’d earn Rs 3,000 extra every month. Now, my income varies between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000,” says Arati. The family, from Bilkanda I gram panchayat in the North 24 Parganas district, struggles to make ends meet on the meagre Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 Dilip earns.

The NREGS or the 100-day job scheme provided income to a sizeable section of West Bengal’s population. While around 13.6 million people have valid NREGS job cards, only 9.2 million of the cards are active. This means at least as many people depend on the scheme for their livelihood.

However, the Union government has frozen the wages accrued till December 2021 under NREGS. Ever since it imposed the punitive Section 27 of the NREG Act—which calls for the withholding of funds in the event of irregularities—on the state on March 9, 2022, no new job days were created either. Arati is just one of 2.1 million people who have yet to receive payment for the last leg of work they had done till December 2021. The net amount due as NREGS wages in Bengal is Rs 3,732 crore. Add non-wage payments, and the amount doubles to Rs 6,907 crore. The non-payment of wages for the central job scheme has led to massive joblessness, pushed thousands into penury and resulted in large-scale migration out of the state.