TMC's Derek O'Brien shares 'proof' of Modi govt admitting no fund allocated to West Bengal under MGNREGS

TMC leader Derek O'Brien on Sunday said that the Centre "admitted" in the Parliament that West Bengal has not been given any fund under MGNREGS.

Derek took to X and shared a document to support his claim.

"Finally! Modi Govt admits inside Parliament that BENGAL'S BEEN GIVEN ZERO for MNREGA funds. @abhishekaitc @AITCofficial have been demanding a White Paper to prove what BJP govt has paid Bengal since loss in 2021 Elections (sic)," he tweeted with an attachment.

The TMC had on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha during the reply of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over its demand for a white paper on MGNREGS, funds for which have been on hold for West Bengal since March 2022.

TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said the minister did not mention state-wise allocation of funds and focused only on overall disbursal.

"We are deeply concerned over the pending dues for MGNREGS and Awas Yojana. Abhishek Banerjee had asked for a white paper on it in his speech. The Finance Minister however wanted to concentrate on projects and how much money has been allocated, but never mentioned state wise allocation," Bandyopadhyay said.

Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan responded by saying irregularities were reported from the state.

"If someone is misusing a scheme, irregularities are happening, or they are changing the name of the scheme, we will not allow people's funds to be misused," Chouhan had said.

According to the Union Rural Development Ministry, release of fund to West Bengal under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS has been on hold since March 9, 2022 as per provisions under section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, due to non-compliance with the directions of the central government.

(With PTI inputs)