Bengal’s panchayat minister Pradip Majumdar on Monday said that he was hopeful of getting central funds under the MGNREGA soon, the optimism following his meeting with his central counterpart Giriraj Singh in Delhi.

“I met the Union minister (Singh, who holds the portfolios of rural development and Panchayati Raj) today (Monday) and he was convinced that we are taking enough measures to implement the scheme properly in Bengal.... He told me that there is no objection from his side to release funds to Bengal,” Majumdar told The Telegraph after the meeting.

The Centre froze funds to Bengal under the 100 days’ job scheme since April this year citing misappropriation of funds under the scheme.

“I told the Union minister that the state’s work in the MGNREGA scheme was recognised by the Centre over the years and no question was asked from Delhi. Now, as questions have been raised, the state is initiating actions by conducting inquiries. Now, if funds are held back, common people will suffer,” said Majumdar.

In recent months, the state government took up several steps to implement the scheme properly, such as appointing ombudspersons under the scheme under instructions of the Centre and holding gram sabha meetings regularly in a bid nip corruption in the bud.

But all these apparently failed to satisfy the Centre. It sent a letter to the state on November 3 pointing out several measures that had been recommended were yet to be implemented.

The Centre has asked the state to recover misappropriated funds from panchayat functionaries and officials concerned and initiate penal and disciplinary action against them.

“The Centre has asked the state to send a fresh action taken report based on a new set of recommendations by November 17. The state’s initiatives to implement the fresh recommendations will determine if it gets allotment under the scheme,” said a senior bureaucrat.

Sources in the panchayat department said that implementing the recommendations, particularly pertaining to the recovery of funds and action against panchayat functionaries, were easier said than done. “As panchayat polls are approaching, no ruling party would like to make its grassroots leaders hostile,” a source said, but added that the initiative by the state panchayat minister to visit Delhi to try to convince the Union minister “is commendable”.