Delays in the disbursement of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme wages in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur have led to severe financial stress, people here say, with some being forced to borrow money from private lenders at high interest rates. Some workers say they haven’t been paid for as many as five months, making it difficult to afford two square meals daily.
While a government official in the district admitted that the Rural Development Department in Patna had not received funds from the Centre for some time, leading to delays in the disbursement of the wages under the rural job guarantee scheme, he said the Centre has released the funds and the wages of 93% of the district’s workers have been released.
However, as per MGNREGA Watch, an NGO based in Muzaffarpur, around 25,000 workers in several blocks of the district, including Gaighat, Bochaha and Kurhani, are yet to receive their wages.
