Civil society groups on Tuesday demanded the immediate resumption of 100-day job scheme NREGA in Bengal after the Supreme Court dismissed the Centre’s appeal against a Calcutta High Court judgment that had directed that the programme be resumed in the state from August 1.
Private research organisation LibTech India, the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti (PBKMS) and the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) have accused the Union ministry of rural development (MoRD) and the Bengal government of stopping the scheme, which seeks to provide up to 100 days of employment to every rural household in a year.
The scheme has been put on hold in Bengal for over three years.
On June 18, the high court had directed the MoRD to resume work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Bengal while continuing its investigation into the irregularities in its implementation in the state.
The MoRD had filed a special leave petition in the apex court, which on Monday said it had found no reason to interfere with the high court judgment.
Chakradhar Buddha, a senior researcher at LibTech India, said the Supreme Court’s decision had brought relief after a long wait.
He said the MoRD had, in the last three years, introduced multiple technologies into the scheme, including the Aadhaar-Based Payment System, online attendance registration and mandatory eKYC, affecting the implementation of the programme.
“Local Bengal officials have never implemented these technologies. They do not know how these technologies operate on the ground. Expecting them to start using all these systems straightaway is unrealistic and will delay the resumption of the scheme,” he said.
Buddha said the MoRD should give Bengal a temporary exemption from adopting these technologies, which will enable officials and workers to get accustomed to the new system. “Otherwise, the order will remain on paper, while workers will have to continue to wait for wages and work,” he said.
In a statement, the PBKMS criticised Trinamool for claiming credit for the favourable judgment in the MGNREGA case.
“This verdict is in fact a victory of Bengal’s rural workers, not of any political party. It is the outcome of the PBKMS’s continuous legal struggle and people’s mobilisation over the past three years — not the handiwork of those who presided over corruption, deprivation and delay. How can the ruling party, whose corruption is responsible for the shutdown of the MGNREGA, now say it is responsible for the resumption of work?” the PBKMS said.