The Centre is unlikely to release funds under the 100-days job scheme for Bengal in the initial months of 2023-24 financial year as it is yet to withdraw Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, based on which funds were frozen for 2022-23 for Bengal under the scheme.
Section 27 of the MGNREGA allows the Centre to stop releasing funds under the 100- days job scheme if it receives complaints of misappropriation or other irregularities.
“The Centre has already sent letters to all other states seeking their plan of action under the 100-days job scheme for 2023-24 financial year. Though we were ready with an action plan with provisions to generate 32 crore mandays in the state for 2023-24, we did not receive any such letter,” said a senior bureaucrat.
Sources in the panchayat and rural development department said that the Centre allots money under the 100-days job scheme based on the action plan prepared by a state.
“As the Centre did not ask for any action plan from Bengal even a few days before the start of the new financial year (on April 1), it is almost clear that the state is not going to get funds under the scheme in 2023-24 financial year, at least the first few months,” said a source.
An official said this was possible as the Centre did not withdraw from Bengal Section 27 of MGNREGA yet, which was clamped last year.
“The Centre had sent a team to inquire into complaints of irregularities in Murshidabad last week. This clearly hints that Section 27 of MGNREGA is still in place. That’s why the chances of Bengal getting funds under the scheme at the start of the next financial year are very slim,” explained an official.
If funds under the central scheme are held back again, it will be significant ahead of the panchayat polls in Bengal this summer.
Sources in Trinamul said the party has sensed that the Centre would deprive Bengal once again and the chief minister had taken it upon herself to corner the BJP on the issue.
“The chief minister will hold a sit-in on March 29 and 30 in Calcutta to protest against the Centre’s discrimination against the poor people of the state. The party will make this an issue against the BJP during the campaign of the panchayat polls. The BJP will have to face questions on why funds for rural people were stopped,” said a Trinamul leader.
The state BJP unit is also aware that they might have to face these questions ahead of rural polls.
“We will make people aware why the central funds were not released in Bengal. We will explain how misappropriation of funds by ruling party leaders led to this situation,” said a BJP leader, adding this would create trouble for Trinamul as the flow of funds at the grassroots would dry up.
Senior officials of the panchayat and rural development department are still not sure why Section 27 ofMGNREGA has not yet been lifted even though the Bengal government has taken up a slew of measures to prevent the misappropriation of funds under the 100-days job scheme.
“We sent action-taken reports whenever questions were raised by the rural development ministry. The ministry was apparently satisfied by them. But now, we are not sure why the provision to stop the release of funds was not lifted,” said a bureaucrat.
