Mamata to pay MGNREGA dues from March 1
On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the outstanding payments of MGNREGA workers in Bengal would start to get resolved from March 1, deferred from the February 21 announced at red Road protest site on February 3.
This is as per the statement during the presentation of The West Bengal Finance Bill, 2024 in the state Assembly.
The deferment of the MGNREGA payments is due to a higher than anticipated number of job card holders, now totalling 24.5 lakh, and the necessary banking procedures for fund transfers.
She also said that if the Union government fails to release the pending funds for the Awas Yojana housing scheme by April, the state will cover the costs starting May 1. The payments for 11 lakh approved houses are still outstanding, she said.
Banerjee criticised the Union Budget, deeming it “anti-poor and anti-economic” and characterised it as “political manoeuvring”. She accused the Modi government of not fully utilising allocated funds for various schemes. According to her, only 40 per cent of the allocated amount for tribal development for financial year (FY) 2023-24 was spent, only 50 per cent of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana’s and a mere 23.5 per cent of Ayushman Bharat’s.
