Mamata Banerjee Vows to Clear MGNREGS Dues for 21 Lakh Workers Amidst ED Raids

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her administration will keep up its efforts to settle the debts of over 21 lakh MGNREGS employees, one day after the Enforcement Directorate carried out searches in relation to the purported anomalies in the 100 days' employment plan across the state.

"For the previous two years, 21 lakh workers who were employed under the 100-day employment initiative had their outstanding payments unpaid by them (the Center)... At a government benefit distribution event on Wednesday in Santragachi, Howrah, the chief minister said, "We have started sending money (to their accounts) to clear their dues."

The chief minister may have sought to indicate that the state government had begun the process of transferring funds to employees' accounts, according to sources inside the state secretariat Nabanna who are aware of the situation.

"Money has not yet been sent. But before transmitting the money, the procedure to verify the workers' identification and their account data has begun. According to a senior source, the districts received an order in this respect on Monday.

Mamata criticized the Center for withholding cash from Bengal for social programs and starving the Bengali people, without specifically naming any federal agency. She promised to combat the deprivation at the Center.

The chief minister said, "The Center stopped releasing funds because we were number one in the (implementation of) 100 days' job scheme. (Central) funds were also stopped for projects like rural housing and rural roads."

The chief minister went on to explain how her Trinamul party was fighting for the rights of those who were employed under the 100-day employment project but were not paid for their labor.

"The national general secretary of Trinamul, Abhishekh Banerjee, led the MPs and MLAs on their trip to Delhi. When trains were canceled, they used buses instead. For 48 hours, I was seated in a demonstration. The chief minister said, "I feel fortunate if I can help the ordinary people, the impoverished, and the indigent.

According to sources in Trinamul, the chief minister chose not to mention the ED by name in her address because she did not want to draw attention to the central agency's raids on Tuesday.

Her current goal is to pressure the BJP-led Centre to halt the transfer of funding to Bengal. She did not bring up the ED raids because she did not want to emphasize their significance. According to a Trinamul source, "If she downplays the raids, it conveys a message that the state government is not concerned about the raids at all."

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the chief minister promised to keep probing the Narendra Modi administration and reaching out to the general public, even as he criticized the Center for the predicament of MGNREGS employees.

It is evident that Trinamul intends to exploit the denial of the Center as a weapon against the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. The party insider stated, "The chief minister is concentrating only on these schemes and trying to remind people of the state they are suffering only because of the BJP-led Center's decision to not release funds to the state. This is because schemes like the 100 days' job scheme, rural roads, and rural housing have a huge impact on rural lives."