Kolkata.26.06.2024 : In the heated political atmosphere of West Bengal NREGA, allegations and counter-allegations about the non-payment of NREGA funds have taken center stage as the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) gear up for the Lok Sabha elections. The TMC has accused the central government, led by the NDA, of withholding wages due under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) since December 2021. The funds were frozen under Section 27 of the NREG Act following reports of corruption, including ghost work, fake job cards, and other irregularities. The state government denies these charges.
Recently, data from the Union Ministry of Rural Development appears to support the Bengal government’s stance. Saket Gokhale, a TMC MP and RTI activist, shared a screen-grab from the ministry’s official website on his X (formerly Twitter) profile. The image shows that 99.98% of job cards in Bengal are genuine, contradicting BJP claims of widespread fraud.
An independent investigation by India Today confirmed similar findings. According to the 2023-24 verification report, 13,658,542 out of 13,662,601 job cards were verified as authentic. Additionally, 9,258,328 of the job cards were active, with 9,256,457 verified. Gokhale pointed out that only 4,059 job cards remain unverified, representing a mere 0.02%.
Verifying job cards is essential to ensure legitimate workers are paid. Over the past three years, the Bengal government has physically verified cards to update records of work done and man-days created. This process also led to the deletion of cards of those who had left the state or were no longer working.
In February 2024, at an event in Kolkata, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that the Bengal government created 2.5 million fake job cards. However, a state government source clarified that while 2.5 million job cards were deleted between 2021 and 2024, not all were fake. Deletions occur periodically in every state due to various reasons, such as migration or death. Only 5,956 job cards were deleted for being fake.
The TMC has criticized the BJP, stating that BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh had more fake job cards deleted in 2023-24 but faced no repercussions. The TMC has used the cessation of funds to portray the BJP as anti-Bengal. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has urged people not to vote for the BJP, claiming the Union government has deprived millions in the state of their rightful money. The state administration has paid Rs 3,732 crore from its own funds for wages due until December 2021 to 2.1 million NREGA workers.
As West Bengal votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha election from April 19 to June 1, the TMC hopes to gain support by highlighting this issue.
West Bengal NREGA Funds Dispute: Authentic Job Cards Confirmed https://t.co/XPNOVFCplM via @snapnews_24 #NREGA #nregawestbengall pic.twitter.com/FiKB03P8Gm
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