CM welcomes HC order, but says 4 years of dues still unpaid
Kolkata: CM
Mamata Banerjee
on Wednesday welcomed the Calcutta High Court judgment directing the Centre to pay 100 days' work scheme wages to Bengal, but said dues were unpaid for four years. Banerjee also questioned the Aug 1 timeframe set by HC.
Banerjee criticised the Centre for withholding funds, saying: "For four years, you have not given us a single paisa for 100 days' job programme, rural roads or Awas Yojana. Our govt gave the due money to the 100-day workers."
"Why is the work to begin from Aug 2025?" she added.
The CM raised concerns about
MGNREGA
fund diversion "to other states", saying: "Is this not a criminal offence?" Banerjee announced that her govt would review the petition through their legal team, maintaining that receiving the funds was their right.
Highlighting Trinamool govt's initiatives to address the employment crisis, the CM said: "Now we have created 1.5 crore man-days for people who are jobless due to non-payment of MGNREGA wages." The state had also launched 'Karmashree'.
"With due respect to the high court, I would like to recall what happened to the Trinamool MP and MLA delegation that went to Delhi to submit a memorandum. Delhi Police filed cases against all of them for joining the agitation at Jantar Mantar," Banerjee said.
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She added that despite having appointments, the junior Union rural development minister had refused to meet the delegation, and they were taken to police stations.
The CM also highlighted her govt's infrastructure initiatives, mentioning that under Pathashree, the state constructed 28,000 km of roads and was building another 12,000 km. She noted that after the Centre stopped housing funds, state govt was allocating funds to 28 lakh people, having already constructed 47 lakh houses.
Bengal govt had previously disbursed Rs 2,700 crore from state funds to clear the dues of nearly 30 lakh MGNREGA workers, with payments pending since March 2022.
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