The Union government has yet to decide whether to implement Calcutta High Court’s direction to restart the national rural job scheme in Bengal from August 1 or appeal to the Supreme Court.

On June 18, Calcutta High Court directed the ministry of rural development to resume work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Bengal while continuing its investigation into the alleged irregularities in its implementation.

The MGNREGA, which provides for up to 100 days of unskilled work per rural household every year, has been put on hold in Bengal for over three years.

In the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Trinamool members Sajda Ahmed and Mahua Moitra wanted to know the steps taken by the Union government in compliance with the high court order and whether the Centre would reimburse the amount spent by the Bengal government for paying the pending wages of workers when funds were frozen.

Rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government was studying the order. “Calcutta High Court, in its judgment dated June 18, has given certain orders regarding the resumption of the MGNREGA scheme in West Bengal. The order of the high court is being studied in the ministry to decide further course of action,” Singh said in a written reply.

A government official said: “The government is planning to challenge the order of Calcutta High Court.”

In a separate reply to a question by Trinamool member Kirti Azad on non-release of funds to Bengal, minister of state for rural development Kamlesh Paswan said several irregularities had been detected in the implementation of the scheme in the state.