TMC claims Centre owes West Bengal around Rs 52,000 crore under MGNREGA

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the Union government on Saturday of "misleading" Parliament and claimed that the Centre owes West Bengal approximately Rs 52,000 crore under the flagship rural employment scheme, MGNREGA.

At a press conference here, TMC's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghose, and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Satabdi Roy, emphasised that West Bengal was one of the top-performing MGNREGA states before funds were halted in March 2022. They highlighted that around 1.37 crore households are enrolled in the scheme, with about 70 lakh households receiving work each year.

In written responses provided in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha this week, the Rural Development Ministry informed that the total pending liability for West Bengal under MGNREGA as of March 8, 2022, when the scheme was suspended, stands at Rs 3,082.52 crore. This includes Rs 1,457.22 crore for wages, Rs 1,607.68 crore for materials, and Rs 17.62 crore for administration.

The TMC leaders, however, claimed that the dues for work already done include Rs 3,700 crore under the wage component, and Rs 3,200 crore under the non-wage component.

"Total dues for work already done are Rs 6900 crore," Ghose said, adding that the projected dues owed by the Centre for the time period when the scheme was not implemented would total to Rs 28,400 crore under the wage component, and Rs 16,400 crore under the non-wage components.

"Total projected dues are Rs 44,800 crore. Total MGNREGA funds owed to Bengal is Rs 51,700 crore," she said.

"The Union government has effectively converted a legal right-to-work into a political weapon against Bengal's rural people," Ghose alleged.

In a written reply to a question from TMC leader Derek O'Brien in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Department of Rural Development is currently in the process of "reworking and refining" the necessary protocols to comply with the high court's direction to resume the scheme in West Bengal.

Ghose criticised this response, describing it as "linguistic gymnastics" and questioned, "What processes are they reworking and what modalities are they refining?" She emphasised that if workers demand work, it should be provided within 15 days, with wages paid within the same timeframe.

"This is the chronology- the Calcutta HC directs the Centre to resume work in June. Centre seeks the Supreme Court's intervention. The Supreme Court in October rejected the Centre's plea. They refused to intervene. It is now December, and the government needs to come up with a more detailed answer on why the programme has not yet resumed," she said.

The Rural Development Ministry said that MGNREGA was suspended in West Bengal, effective March 9, 2022, by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, due to the state's continued non-compliance with the directives of the Central government.

The Calcutta High Court directed on June 18 that the Centre should implement MGNREGA, the 100-day job guarantee scheme, prospectively in West Bengal starting August 1.

The TMC leaders also accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of misleading the Rajya Sabha. In response to a debate on the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, she criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for allegedly hindering the state's growth despite the Centre's full support.

Sitharaman said that between April 1, 2011, and September 30, 2025, 448 listed companies and 6,447 unlisted companies have exited West Bengal.

In contrast, Ghose asserted that over 1 lakh companies were registered in Bengal during the same period, representing an increase of 83 per cent. "In the last five years, 40,000 companies were incorporated," she added.

Ghose has also written to Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan, urging him to expunge Sitharaman's remarks on the issue.

Additionally, Ghose and Roy expressed hope that the debate on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would be held in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as the government had assured them.

"The government assured us in the business advisory committee meeting, in the presence of leaders from all political parties, that there will be a discussion on electoral reforms in both houses. We have trusted the government. They must not go back on their word and run away," she said.

In response to reports about suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir laying the foundation stone for a mosque in West Bengal's Murshidabad, Roy accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "fanning communal fire." "He has been suspended from the TMC. Elections are coming up in West Bengal, and the BJP is fanning communal fire," she alleged.