Trinamool hails SC order on MGNREGA, terms it a historic win for Bengal

Kolkata, Oct 27 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress on Monday hailed the Supreme Court verdict on the rural job scheme in West Bengal, terming it a "historic victory" for the state.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s directive to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in the state.

The Central government had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order. However, the apex court on Monday dismissed the appeal.

As a result of the verdict, the Centre will now have to clear the pending dues to the West Bengal government under the scheme, paving the way for the relaunch of the employment project.

Using his social media, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee said the Supreme Court order was a crushing defeat for the BJP.

“Another crushing defeat for the Bohiragoto Bangla-Birodhi Zamindars. The Hon’ble Supreme Court today dismissed the Central Government’s plea challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order directing the resumption of MGNREGA in Bengal. This is a HISTORIC VICTORY for the people of Bengal, who refused to bow down before Delhi’s ARROGANCE and INJUSTICE,” Banerjee said.

The Trinamool leader accused the BJP-led Central government of imposing an economic blockade on Bengal after failing to come to power in the state.

“When they failed to defeat us politically, BJP weaponised deprivation. They imposed an ECONOMIC BLOCKADE on Bengal, snatching away the wages of the poor and punishing the people for standing by Maa, Mati, Manush. But Bengal does not yield. We promised to fight for every rightful rupee, every honest worker, every silenced voice,” said Banerjee.

The nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee further said, “Today’s verdict is a democratic slap on the face of those who believed Bengal could be bullied, coerced or silenced. BJP’s arrogance has met its reckoning. They seek power without accountability. They take from Bengal, yet refuse to return her dues. But now, they’ve been defeated in PEOPLE’S VOTE, and in the SUPREME COURT.”

The 100-day work scheme has been stalled in West Bengal since December 2021. The Trinamool Congress consistently alleged that the Centre withheld funds due to political vendetta to deprive the people of Bengal. The Central government and the BJP, however, alleged widespread corruption in the 100-day work scheme in the state, claiming that funds were siphoned off by creating fake job cards and depriving genuine beneficiaries. Citing corruption, the Centre stopped the allocation of funds, turning the issue into a major political flashpoint between the Trinamool and the BJP, especially during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier this year, a bench comprising Calcutta High Court’s then Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chattopadhyay directed the Centre to resume allocation of funds under MGNREGA, with the rider that it could instruct the state on measures to prevent corruption.

Following Monday’s Supreme Court verdict, the Trinamool Congress said in a statement: “The Supreme Court’s clear and unequivocal verdict marks the end of an unjust and politically motivated financial blockade. By withholding MGNREGA funds for over three years, the Government at the Centre deprived Bengal’s rural poor of their livelihoods in an act that defied both morality and constitutional propriety.”

The party further said: “It was the politics of punishment driven by a Bangla-Birodhi Zamindari mindset that sought to starve Bengal into submission. The Court has said what Bengal has been saying all along -- you can check, you can question, but you cannot choke people’s livelihoods in the name of oversight. The Court has upheld the Calcutta High Court’s verdict in its entirety, confirming Bengal’s stand as both legal and just.”

Calling the outcome a triumph for justice and a defeat for the politics of discrimination, the Trinamool said the Centre must now comply without delay and release Bengal’s rightful dues. “Joy Bangla", it added.

--IANS

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