Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury has condemned the exclusion of Bengal from a Rs 50,000 crore central scheme to provide jobs to migrants who returned home during the coronavirus-induced lockdown and asked Mamata Banerjee to exert pressure on the Union government for the state’s inclusion in the project.

The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, which would cover 116 districts across six states, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

The Behrampore MP on Monday lashed out at the Centre’s rationale behind the omission of Bengal from the project, saying Murshidabad alone “has at least 3 lakh returnees”.

“The BJP is playing politics yet again. They are saying the scheme is meant for districts in which at least 25,000 youths have returned. But in Murshidabad alone, at least 2 lakh youths have returned during the lockdown,” the Behrampore MP said here on Monday

“Bengal will ultimately be included in the scheme. I will see to it,” he said, adding the Congress was among the first public voices demanding cash remittances for migrant workers.

“The Prime Minister seems to have woken up to this a little late, but it is okay,” Chowdhury said.

He urged the Bengal chief minister to take up the matter with Modi urgently.

“Madam, please contact the central offices concerned immediately…. If needed, call the Prime Minister himself. We are ready to agitate for this endlessly. If needed, please go to Delhi,” the MP said.

Trinamul Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in a tweet on Monday slammed Modi for depriving 11 lakh migrants who had returned to the state of the benefits of the scheme.

Reacting to the tweet, BJP Bengal president Dilip Ghosh said the state government had always kept itself out of central schemes like the PM Kishan Yojana and accused Trinamul of playing “dirty politics” by crying neglect. He wondered whether the state had sent the list of districts to get them enlisted in the project.