West Bengal's Debt to State Swells to Rs 6,907 Crore as Centre Withholds MGNREGA Funds

The state's debt to the state has swelled to Rs 6,907 crore as of September 29, according to former finance minister Amit Mitra, who claimed that the Narendra Modi government did not follow the proper legal procedures before withholding the release of cash to Bengal under the 100-day rural work program MGNREGA.

During a virtual press conference on "Federalism and Democracy in Jeopardy," Mitra attacked the Center for refusing what is due to Bengal and numerous Opposition-ruled states, alleging that the Modi administration has violated rules and the nation's federal system in the "worst possible manner."

Mitra's press conference appeared to be a component of Trinamul's multifaceted plan, with Abhishek Banerjee's dharna outside Raj Bhavan following two days of protest in Delhi serving as its core, to support the narrative of central Bengal's plight.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, Section 27 was not invoked until March 9, 2022, according to Mitra, the chief adviser to the chief minister of Bengal. The Union ministry of rural development had stopped providing funding as of December 24, 2021. If the Center receives reports of irregularities, it is permitted by Section 27 to withhold the delivery of cash under the 100-day job program, according to sources. Mitra asserts that a precondition for withholding funds is using Section 27.

If you wish to stop payments to any state, you can't since they didn't respect the law's letter or spirit, according to Mitra. On December 24, 2021, they discontinued it without following the text of the law. They awoke later and used Section 27. In order to block Bengal from receiving funding under the MGNREGA without first following the proper procedures from December, they triggered Section 27 on March 9, 2022, which is over three months later.

He stressed that the money being "illegally" held up by the Centre must be paid interest. According to Mitra, Bengal's case has an interest component that might total Rs 200 crore and an outstanding balance of roughly Rs 1,500 crore from December 24 to March 9.

The Union government had "very cleverly" suspended the distribution of funds before invoking Section 27 of the MGNREGA, according to a senior state government official, notwithstanding Mitra's criticism of procedural flaws in the way the Center had enforced the funding block.

"The state government had used up the allotted labor budget of 36.42 crore mandays for the fiscal year 2021–2022 in November 2021. However, the state had continued with the plan in the hope that Delhi would authorize the extra mandays. However, Delhi prohibited the money from coming in on the excuse that no prior approval was obtained before creating the extra mandays," the bureaucrat claimed.

In the midst of the argument over whether the Centre followed the rules, a number of senior officials warned that Delhi would suffer as a result of the choice.

"The general public is not interested in learning whether procedures were followed to stop the release of monies. They are aware that despite working, they received no pay. The Bengali government has correctly brought up the issue, which has put the BJP in a bind, according to a bureaucrat.

Mitra was questioned about if the Bengali government would pursue legal action during the news conference. He claimed that a few NGOs had already filed legal actions, and the state would monitor how the matter developed.