The Union Rural Development Ministry, while answering a question on pending dues to the States under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), skipped any reference to West Bengal. Photo credit: X/ @Jairam_Ramesh
The Union Rural Development Ministry, while answering a question on pending dues to the States under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), skipped any reference to West Bengal. The scheme, which provides 100 days of wage employment to rural households, has remained suspended in the State since March 2022.
On Friday (July 25, 2025), in a written reply to a question asked by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on pending dues to the States under three heads of wages, material and administration, the Ministry only gave data for 33 States and Union Territories without any reference to West Bengal.
Sharing the answer in a post on X, Congress leader and former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said: “This is extraordinary, unprecedented, and unacceptable.”
In an order on June 18, the Calcutta High Court had directed the Union government to resume the scheme in the State. On Tuesday, to another question asked by Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra in Lok Sabha, on what steps the government is taking for timely compliance of the order, the Ministry replied: “The order of Hon’ble High Court is being studied in the Ministry to decide further course of action.”
Published – July 25, 2025 09:55 pm IST
