KOLKATA: The central govt cannot indefinitely withhold MGNREGS funds, the Calcutta high court said on Thursday, asking why the rural employment guarantee scheme – stalled in West Bengal since 2022 – should not be implemented “prospectively”.
A division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) directed Centre to submit an affidavit explaining why the scheme (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) should not be implemented in all districts of the state barring the four in which the state nodal officer had admitted “misuse” of funds.
“A plain reading of the provision reveals there cannot be a permanent withholding of funds,” the CJ observed, citing section 27(2) of the MGNREG Act. The rules allow the Union govt to suspend funds to a state pending an investigation, but also state that Centre should “institute appropriate remedial measures for its proper implementation within a reasonable period of time”, he added.
The bench also directed the state to file an affidavit stating why unemployment allowance should not be given to people who have remained jobless for the last three years, as provided in MGNREGA.
The high court gave three weeks to both the Centre and the state govt to file their affidavits, and posted the matter for hearing on May 15. The release of MGNREGS funds to Bengal have been withheld since March 9, 2022.
Chief Justice Sivagnanam noted that the both stakeholders found “misuse” and “defalcation” of funds in four districts – Hooghly, East Burdwan, Malda and Darjeeling GTA area. The state said more than Rs 2.37 crore has already been recovered from the four districts (out of Rs 5.37 crore).
Additional solicitor general Asoke Kumar Chakraborty submitted that central teams inspected MGNREGS accounts in 15 districts, but the Chief Justice said the documents available with the court mention only four districts. He directed the Centre to bring on record whether it had made similar recommendations for districts other than the four.
The CJ also wanted to know what measures the central govt would take to implement the scheme prospectively, and why it should not be renewed in districts other than the four where there had been misuse of funds. The bench then directed the Centre to clarify how it proposed to use the Rs 2.37 crore already recovered and deposited in the state nodal account of MGNREGS.