TMC MPs protest in Parliament complex over pending Central dues

Trinamool Congress MPs on Thursday staged a protest march to the Parliament complex on the issue of pending Central dues for West Bengal. TMC MPs gathered at Vijay Chowk near the Parliament complex, and took out the march while raising slogans.

“The BJP Government has not paid Rs 2 lakh crore dues, which are for the people of West Bengal... We are protesting to demand that the pending amount should be paid,” TMC Lok Sabha Chief Whip Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said.

“The Centre owes West Bengal rightful dues under PM Awas Yojna, Jal Jeevan Mission and MGNREGA,” TMC MP Mahua Moitra said.

“We are staging a protest and raising slogans because the Centre is not paying the dues”, Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen said.

The TMC has also been questioning the delay in restarting MGNREGS in West Bengal, even after the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s order directing the Centre to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal. 

The Centre had suspended funds for over three years due to allegations of corruption and irregularities. 

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan had said release of funds to West Bengal under the MGNREGS was stopped with effect from March 9, 2022, by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the MGNREGA, 2005, owing to continued non-compliance with the directives of the Centre by the State.

He also said the total pending liability pertaining to West Bengal, as on March 8, 2022, stands at Rs 3082.52 crore, comprising Rs 1457.22 crore under the wage component, Rs 1607.68 crore under the material component, and Rs 17.62 crore under the administrative component.