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NEW DELHI: All India Trinamool Congress MPs held a protest in Parliament complex on Wednesday over pending Central dues across schemes, including the delay in resumption of MGNREGS in the state and release of funds for the same in West Bengal in compliance with Calcutta high court orders.The TMC MPs gathered near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Prerna Sthal in Parliament complex, holding banners and placards alleging that Centre owed West Bengal Rs 2 lakh crore in all. In a post on X, TMC said, “Bengal’s rightful money must be returned! The Bangla Birodhi Modi Government has shamelessly blocked Rs 2 lakh crore owed to our people. But today, at the foot of Gandhi’s statue in Parliament, our MPs rose as one, a united roar against injustice.”It added, “Bengal will not bow. Bengal will not stop. And every single rupee that belongs to our people, we will take back.”In Oct, the Supreme Court had dismissed the Central government’s plea to continue holding back the funds, upholding the HC’s directive that while investigations into past irregularities can continue, the scheme cannot be indefinitely stalled.On Tuesday, the govt, in response to a question, informed Parliament that the department of rural development is “currently in the process of reworking and refining the necessary modalities and procedures” to comply with the June-18 HC order. While no timeline was given for release of dues in the reply, minister of state for rural development Kamlesh Paswan, in the written response, said that the total pending liability pertaining to Bengal stands at over Rs 3,000 crore as of Mar 8, 2022. “The admissibility of this liability is subject to verification by the Central government,” he added.The minister further said, “The release of funds to West Bengal under MGNREGS was stopped with effect from March 9, 2022, by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, owing to continued non-compliance with the directives of the Central government by the State.”
