Trinamool Congress MPs gathered in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, holding up blank sheets of paper, a symbolic push for what they say the Centre has refused to provide for nearly two years: a detailed white paper on funds allocated to West Bengal under MGNREGS and PMAY.
MPs from both Houses stood together with white placards, repeating their demand that the Union government explain why dues for central schemes remain unpaid. The party says this has been the core of its protests through the Winter Session.
Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev reminded reporters that the demand traces back to early 2024.
“In March 2024, Abhishek Banerjee threw a challenge at Modiji and Amit Shah to release a white paper on the allocations made to Bengal. He challenged them to an open debate. It has been 21 months since then, but the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Modi government have not been able to say what they gave to Bengal and its allocations,” she said.
Dev added that Wednesday’s demonstration was meant to signal unfinished business.
“Therefore, today we protested with white papers in our hand to remind the Modi-Shah government that you continue to deprive Bengal and make false assertions inside both the Houses of Parliament only to malign the state because you can't win an election in Bengal,” she said.
Trinamool leaders have repeatedly claimed that the Centre owes West Bengal more than Rs 2 lakh crore, including Rs 52,000 crore under MGNREGS.
The Centre has countered these figures earlier, pointing to pending liabilities at the time the scheme was halted in the state.
According to the Ministry of Rural Development, dues stood at Rs 3,082.52 crore as of March 8, 2022, broken down into Rs 1,457.22 crore for wages, Rs 1,607.68 crore for materials and Rs 17.62 crore for administrative costs.
The Trinamool’s calculations differ. The party argues that dues for completed work alone add up to Rs 3,700 crore in wages and Rs 3,200 crore under the non-wage component.
It also includes projected dues for the period when the scheme remained suspended, estimating Rs 28,400 crore under wages and Rs 16,400 crore for non-wage components, adding up to roughly Rs 51,700 crore.