A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought the release of funds due to the State, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister alleging rampant corruption and malpractices in the implementation of central government schemes in West Bengal.
Mr. Adhikari, who is also a BJP MLA alleged, that “MGNREGA has been turned into a money-minting scheme by the local level ruling party functionaries. The poor job card holders are either not paid properly for their efforts, or their cards are snatched away and kept by such corrupt representatives in connivance with the officials.” Referring to central teams surveying the implementation of MGNREGA in the State, Mr. Adhikari urged the PM to direct concerned departments “to dispatch more of such teams in order to conduct comprehensive audit and unearth the actual misuse of Central funds”. In the five-page letter, the Leader of Opposition has cited specific instances of corruption, particularly in the implementation of MGNREGA.
The Chief Minister after meeting the Prime Minister on Friday had submitted a letter where she had said ₹1,00,968.44 crore remaining outstanding on account of core sectors, is due to West Bengal. Ms. Banerjee in the letter emphasised on schemes like MGNREGA, Awas Yojana and Gramin Sadak Yojana and added that “fund due from the central government on these schemes is about ₹17,996.32 crore”.
Not paid wages
The Centre has not paid any wages for MGNREGA work in West Bengal since December 2021, which has led to virtual stoppage of 100 days work in the State. The non-payment of work has resulted in distress in rural areas where the population is dependent on MGNREGA in the State. Mr. Adhikari in the letter said that on behalf of people of West Bengal, he would like to convey that “proper checks and balances should be in place accordingly and the amount that has been granted till now must be accounted for”.
