The resumption of work in Bengal under the rural job scheme has missed the August 1 deadline set by Calcutta High Court, prompting a civil society organisation to blame both the central and state governments for the plight of Bengal’s 2.5 crore job card holders.
The Centre stopped the funding to Bengal under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in December 2021 alleging irregularities in its implementation. Work under the scheme stopped in the state in March 2022.
On June 18 this year, the high court directed the Union rural development ministry to resume projects under the scheme in Bengal by August 1 while continuing its investigations into the alleged irregularities.
However, Bengal NREGA workers’ wait continues. On Saturday, the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS) accused the state and central governments of brazenly defying the court order.
It said block officials in several districts were saying the Centre had yet to communicate any decision on the resumption of work. But while the Centre has to send the funds, Samity representatives said, the state should have begun accepting job applications under the scheme at least 15 days in advance.
“Instead of preparing for the resumption of work, block offices in multiple districts are refusing to even accept job applications. This is a deliberate attack on the right to work of the state’s poorest,” the Samity said in a statement.
It added that when MGNREGA activists visit block offices to enquire when work would resume, officials sometimes accuse them of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
Under the scheme, the Union rural development ministry pays for the workers’ wages as well as 75 per cent of the cost of the material used in any project. The state pays the remaining 25 per cent of the material costs.
Since the ministry halted the funding to Bengal under the scheme, the Centre’s pending liabilities — in unpaid wages and costs — have been ₹3,038 crore.
“The chief minister can raise Puja grants to local clubs from ₹85,000 to ₹1,10,000, but has no plan to ensure employment for the crores of rural workers in her state. The central government is equally guilty,” the PBKMS said.
It demanded immediate implementation of the scheme in Bengal, the payment of the stipulated unemployment allowance to all workers denied work despite demand, and an end to the illegal rejection of job applications and the communal profiling of activists.
Trinamool Congress MPs Sajda Ahmed and Mahua Moitra had in the Lok Sabha on July 22 demanded to know what steps the Centre had taken for compliance with the high court order. Rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government was studying the order.
The scheme provides for up to 100 days’ unskilled work to every rural household in a year.