Trinamul leaders in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts are collecting letters from job card-holders seeking funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act from the Prime Minister and the Union rural development minister.

The Centre has not released funds under the 100-day rural job scheme to Bengal for over a year, citing corruption.

Last month, Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had announced that he would take one crore letters signed by MGNREGA beneficiaries to Delhi and submit them tothe offices of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and rural development minister Giriraj Singh.

Abhishek, during his recent visit to Cooch Behar, the northern district from where he launched his statewide outreach drive, had mentioned that the central government had stopped allocating funds under the 100-day scheme to Bengal.

“Time and again, we have raised the issue but there has been no change in the situation. Due to the halt in allocation of funds, lakhs of people who are beneficiaries of the scheme have not received their wages. That is why we have decided to carry one crore letters to Delhi and if required, we will also launch a movement in the national capital,” he had said.

In keeping with the plan, Trinamul leaders in Cooch Behar have taken up the task of collecting letters from beneficiaries. Every day, they are visiting villages and holding camps where they are inviting people to submit letters.

“We have set a target of collecting 12 lakh letters from the district. Our leaders and workers are travelling to the villages to get the letters signed by the job card-holders. Each letter will bear thejob card number and other basic details of the beneficiary. Along with camps, we arealso reaching peoples’ doorsteps to collect the letters,” said Avijit De Bhowmik, the Cooch Behar district Trinamul president.

Trinamul, in the run-up to the panchayat polls, will flag the Centre’s “deprivation” of Bengal before the rural populace to counter the BJP.

“People living in villages can easily relate to this issue, especially the job card-holders who are not getting work under the scheme for months now,” an observer said.

In Cooch Behar, there are 128 panchayats where around 12 lakh people have MGNREGA job cards.

“In the application, the beneficiaries are seeking their due wages from the central government,” said a source.

A similar initiative has been taken up in neighbouring Alipurduar district. From Alipurduar, where there are 64 panchayats, Trinamul aims to collect three lakh letters.

“The drive has started across the district. We have asked our block presidents to expedite the process so that we can send the letters to the state leadership soon,” said Mridul Goswami, the chairman of the Alipurduar Trinamul.