The Union Ministry of Rural Development informed Parliament on Tuesday that it owes ₹6,366 crore under the wage component of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to States.
There are a total of 14.42 crore active MGNREGS workers, most of whom are women, dependent on the wages to supplement their family’s income. Of the total sum, ₹2,770 crore is owed to West Bengal alone. Invoking Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Centre has blocked payment of over ₹7,500 crore to West Bengal for “non-compliance of directives of the Central government” since December 2021.