Congress MP gives privilege notice against MoS for 'misleading' statement on MGNREGS funding

In his notice to Speaker Om Birla, Tagore said the Minister of State for Rural Development made a 'factually incorrect' statement during the Question Hour on Tuesday while responding to a supplementary by DMK MP K Kanimozhi.

New Delhi: Congress Whip Manickam Tagore on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice against Minister of State A Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani for his remarks that more populous Uttar Pradesh was receiving fewer MGNREGA funds than Tamil Nadu, claiming it was "misleading."

Pemmasani's remarks during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday had triggered protests, leading to a brief adjournment as DMK and other Opposition MPs objected to it.

“Tamil Nadu has already received Rs 7,300 crore... Tamil Nadu has a population of seven crore, and UP has a population of 20 crore. But UP draws close to Rs 10,000 crore. Tamil Nadu draws more than Rs 10,000 crore. So, there is no question of not giving money,” the minister had said.

In his letter to Speaker Om Birla, Tagore said the official data on the MGNREGA official website showed that the expenditure for Uttar Pradesh for the current fiscal stood at Rs 11,860 crore, while it was Rs 10,687 crore for Tamil Nadu. The Union government has released Rs 9,758 crore to UP and Rs 7,414 crore to Tamil Nadu so far this year.

He also said the funding under MGNREGA is determined by the demand for work and not population size, and hence the minister's claim regarding population-based allocation is "misleading" and "factually incorrect," which could lead to "confusion."

"Given the importance of maintaining the integrity of statements made in the House and the impact of false information on public discourse, I request a privilege motion be initiated against Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani for misleading the House and causing confusion regarding MGNREGA funding," he said.

Pemmasani's comments came as DMK senior MP Kanimozhi posed a query about a timeline for clearing the dues to Tamil Nadu and whether the Union government would pay interest for the delayed payment. While Kanimozhi claimed the dues ran into Rs 4,034 crore, the Ministry of Rural Development said it was Rs 3,680.74 crore, including Rs 2,927.67 crore, as of March 18.

Sources said Trinamool Congress is also contemplating submitting a privilege notice against Pemmasani for his comments on West Bengal, which party MPs claimed were not true.

Of the total dues of Rs 25,075.81 crore, the Ministry of Rural Development informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Rs 14,681.52 crore is due on account of wages, while the remaining Rs 10,394.29 crore is on account of material and administrative costs. For Karnataka, the total dues are Rs 686.53 crore—Rs 403.01 crore on wages and Rs 283.52 crore on material and administrative costs.

The government has released Rs 97,794.33 crore in 2021-22, followed by Rs 90,041.39 crore in 2022-23, and Rs 88,554.76 crore in 2023-24, while in this fiscal, till March 18, Rs 84,114.70 crore has been released. For Karnataka, the amounts released were Rs 6,028.08 crore, Rs 6,225.28 crore, Rs 5,415.74 crore, and Rs 5,557.32 crore, respectively.