Bengal Governor to meet TMC leaders at 4 pm on October 9 to discuss MGNREGA issue

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose will meet Trinamool Congress leaders at the Raj Bhavan at 4 pm on Monday for a discussion on the issue of the Centre stopping MGNREGA funds to the state, official sources said.

"Bose has agreed to give an appointment to TMC leaders for a meeting at the Raj Bhavan at 4pm on Monday," the official told PTI.

Soon after returning from Darjeeling on Sunday night, Bose said the Raj Bhavan is 'Jana Raj Bhavan' and its doors are open from 4am to 11pm and any leader of any party is welcome there.

"The Raj Bhavan is Jana Raj Bhavan. Anybody is welcome there from 4am to 11pm. Any leader of any party is welcome in Raj Bhavan. I will certainly meet those who want to meet me anytime till 11pm," Bose told reporters at the city airport.

Earlier in the day, Bose had said he will meet those deprived of MGNREGA work in the state and take up their grievances with New Delhi.

There was, however, no confirmation on whether he would meet TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Bose, who returned to Kolkata from Darjeeling after assessing the flood situation in north Bengal, had written to Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi inquiring whether permission was granted for the TMC's ongoing sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan, a source at the governor house said.

"The governor wrote to the chief secretary wanting to know whether proper permission was given to the TMC to hold the sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan. He also asked the chief secretary whether there was any breach of the law in giving permission to the ruling party in the state to hold the protest outside his residence where Section 144 of CrPC is supposed to be imposed till 150 metres," the source told PTI.

Bose said the state government replied to his letter in a 'very very positive' way.

"These are routine controls expected of a Governor. Such letters go to the government once a while. A reply has come which is very very positive," Bose said.

"I will speak with the deprived. I will hear complaints directly from them. After that, I will talk not only to the Centre but also all parties involved," Bose had told reporters at Kalimpong.

Incidentally, a three-member TMC delegation on Saturday called on Bose in Darjeeling, where they presented demands regarding the clearance of the state's financial dues under the scheme.

Meanwhile, the indefinite sit-in outside Raj Bhavan by TMC activists led by senior leader Abhishek Banerjee entered the fourth day on Sunday with agitators asserting their stir will continue till Bose meets them at the protest site.

The Ministry of Rural Development on October 5 had stated that the release of funds for West Bengal was stopped from March 9, 2022, in accordance with Section 27 of MGNREGA because of the state's non-compliance with directives of the central government.