Bengal forms task force to disburse MGNREGA funds
The Bengal government has issued a circular notifying the formation of a state-level task force to disburse the wages of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme workers. The Panchayats and Rural Development Department Secretary P Ulganathan will chair the force.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared that the state government will pay the dues of the workers as the Union government is holding up the funds because of political vindictiveness.
The notification states: “In order to provide relief to the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers who have not received wage due to imposition of Sec. 27 of the MGNREG Act in March 22, the State Government has decided to pay the pending wage to all those workers. Detailed guidelines have been issued to the districts in this regard so that wage is credited to the bank accounts of every such worker in a transparent and accountable manner after due verification of the authenticity of the workers and mapping of their bank accounts.”
Mamata Banerjee had also accused the BJP-led Union government of invalidating Aadhar cards of many voters in the state. She said that people belonging to the minority communities and Matua sect were being specifically targeted, as a precursor towards the implementation of the tripod of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has always been a vocal critic of the NRC and has hit the streets in protest on several occasions.
The Bengal CM has also announced that the invalidation of Aadhar cards will not hamper the disbursement of government funds through various schemes to the public since her administration will introduce a separate card for the purpose.
