A 10-member parliamentary team of the Trinamul Congress on Thursday met Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh and demanded immediate release of Rs 7,130 crore under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme.
The release of the funds has remained pending for six months, delaying the disbursement of wages among 100-day job-card holders.
Singh promised a meeting between secretaries of the state and the Centre, soon, to resolve the impasse.
“The people working under the scheme have been denied payment for six months, following non-release of Rs 7,130 crore by the Centre. We have appealed to the Union minister to release the funds immediately. He said there were some issues regarding the non-payment and assured us of a meeting between secretaries very soon,” said Sudip Bandopadhyay, Trinamul’s leader in the Lok Sabha.
Of the 10 MPs in the Trinamul delegation, six were from Lok Sabha and four from Rajya Sabha. They met Singh at his office.
Trinamul leaders said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi twice, on May 12 and June 9, seeking the release of the funds, citing the rule for states to pay MGNREGA wages and clear other dues within 15 days of the work.
The Trinamul leaders said they would start protests if the funds were not released very soon. “We hope this imbroglio will be over soon and the Union government will disburse the money. Otherwise, we will have to take the protest route,” said Bandopadhyay.
In his recent visit to Bengal, the BJP’s national president J.P. Nadda had alleged that the state government had failed to submit the accounts or utilisation certificates and that was why the Union government held up the release of the funds.
However, Trinamul rubbished the allegation.
“This (Nadda’s comment) is nothing but a blatant lie intended to gain political mileage at the cost of lakhs and lakhs of the rural poor in the state, who are passing through most distressing times because of the non-payment of wages for their works,” said Mamata in her letter to Modi on June 9.
