By Rabindra Nath Sinha
KOLKATA: Applications for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 are being submitted by card holders in West Bengal districts but applicants do not have the slightest idea when the authorities will, if at all, allot them work. MNREGA job remains a bone of contention between the Centre and the West Bengal government for over three years.
It looks like the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government, at the prompting of the state BJP leadership, will keep this sensitive issue pending and act at a moment it considers opportune in the context of the Assembly elections due in the state by the last week of March / early April. Which means in the intervening period, both the Union rural development ministry (RDM) and the BJP leadership will continue to highlight instances of corruption and inefficiency in the implementation of the scheme by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress ministry. Several official teams deputed by the Centre over the last two-and-a-half years found evidence of substantial corruption and non-compliance with laid-down norms.
The state administration, for all practical purposes, conceded there has been rampant corruption and assured RDM of corrective actions, including recovery of misappropriated funds from ‘guilty’ officials and TMC functionaries holding posts in panchayats who colluded in the implementation of the programmes. New Delhi had invoked Section 27 of MNREGA, which allows, inter alia, stoppage of release of funds for payment of wages for violation of rules and procedures. Payment of wages were stopped on December 21, 2021. This penal action culminated in the stoppage of issuance of work permits from March 2022. The impasse involves two critical issues; first the state is yet to receive from the Centre an estimated Rs 3,000 crore for work done in the past and secondly, of course, is the resumption of work under the scheme. New Delhi’s latest stance once again confirms its intention to derive political mileage from this contentious issue.
New Delhi is now contending that the situation on the spot does not suggest there has a noticeable improvement in systems and procedures for utilization of funds, selection of schemes and their execution. In so many words, New Delhi is trying to convey to the state government that corruption and administrative weakness yet remain major concerns.
Interestingly, the Union government reportedly has decided to inform the Calcutta High Court about its assessment of the situation obtaining in West Bengal. Strictly speaking, circumstances are forcing the Centre to keep the Calcutta High Court posted on this score. This is because a division bench of Calcutta High Court led by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam on June 18, 2025 directed the Centre to resume work under MNREGA in West Bengal from August 1, 2025. The directive was the division bench’s action in the case filed by Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), a trade union of agricultural workers, which had sought resumption of the 100-day job scheme under the 2005 Act and highlighted how nearly 2.5 lakh farm labourers were suffering since its implementation was abruptly halted in March 2022 and wages due for work done in the past were not released.
The bench observed: “The scheme of the Act does not envisage a situation where it would be put to cold storage for eternity. The Central government has sufficient means to inquire into the irregularity of the disbursement of wages. However, there can be a line drawn between past actions and future steps to be taken for implementation. This, in the opinion of the court, would be in the public interest and subserve the interest in which the Act was enacted Therefore, while allowing the Central government to proceed with their enquiry, this court directs that the scheme be implemented prospectively from August 1, 2025”.
In a statement issued on August 1 PBKMS has observed that both the Union government and the state administration have brazenly chosen to defy the court’s order. Instead of preparing for the resumption of work, block officers in multiple districts are refusing to even accept job applications. In just four days between July 28 and 31, nearly 2,100 job applications were submitted across block offices in Purulia, South 24 Parganas and Norh 24 Parganas districts.
Further, job applications from over 1,300 workers were illegally rejected in nine block offices across seven districts, which are South Dinajpur, Malda, Purulia, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Paschim Medinipur and Nadia. PBKMS has also alleged that state district level officials are threatening and intimidating its members when they accompany workers for submitting job applications. When PBKMS contacted the NREGA commissioner, he clearly stated that “no work will begin unless the Central government issues fresh instructions” – a position that clearly undermines the authority of the Calcutta High Court.
There are strong reasons to suspect that chief minister Banerjee is also in a wait and watch mode and that’s why there is no initiative from the state administration to facilitate resumption of the 100-day job scheme. Since the issuance of the division bench’s directive on June 18, nearly seven weeks have lapsed. There was enough time to complete preparatory formalities and engage in talks with RDM in the light of the division bench’s directive. Some indications about how the BJP leadership wants to proceed in this regard may be available when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state for galvanisng the party’s rank and file and simultaneously address public meetings, keeping the next Assembly elections in view. In any case, an early green signal for resumption is highly unlikely. That’s the assessment of West Bengal watchers. (IPA Service)
