Mamata Banerjee tears up note on new MGNREGA norms, calls them 'insulting'

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday escalated her long-running confrontation with the Union government over MGNREGA funds, publicly tearing up a copy of the new operational norms at a Trinamool Congress rally in Cooch Behar and declaring that Bengal “will not survive on Delhi’s charity”.

Calling the Centre’s revised guidelines a “valueless and insulting diktat”, Banerjee told the crowd at Ras Mela ground that her government would expand its own state-funded employment scheme, Karmashree, rather than accept what she described as politically motivated restrictions designed to choke Bengal’s welfare programmes.

Her protest comes against the backdrop of a nearly two-year standoff between the Centre and the West Bengal government over unpaid MGNREGA dues, during which the Union rural development ministry has accused the state of mismanagement and irregularities, while the state has alleged that the BJP-led government is weaponising funds to punish a political opponent.

Banerjee said the latest letter from the Centre, received two days ago, imposed a fresh set of conditions on West Bengal’s MGNREGA operations — including mandatory submission of a quarterly labour budget starting 6 December and compulsory pre-employment training modules.

“Day before yesterday, we received a letter stating that starting 6 December, we must submit a quarterly labour budget. They have imposed a restrictive condition. But where is the time to show it? This is December, and the election is due early next year. Then they said training has to be provided,” she said, tearing up a copy of the letter.

Her critique reflects a wider complaint among several non-BJP states — that the Centre has increasingly tightened procedural norms for centrally sponsored schemes, leading to delayed approvals, slowed wage disbursement and reduced state autonomy.

“When will you train and when will you give the jobs? I say this piece of paper is valueless,” she said. “Under Karmashree, we are giving 70 days of work. We will increase it to 100 days. We don’t want your mercy. That is why I am tearing the note. I feel it is disrespectful.”

Framing the confrontation in civilisational, not merely administrative, terms, Banerjee said: “Bengal has never bowed its head and never will. Bengal knows how to walk with its head held high.”

Her remarks tap into a familiar political theme in West Bengal: the claim that the Centre is encroaching on state rights and withholding funds as leverage. The TMC has repeatedly said that the freeze on MGNREGA payments, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana allocations, and rural road development grants has crippled Panchayat-level spending, especially in politically sensitive districts where the BJP made gains in 2021.

Banerjee reiterated that Bengal’s MGNREGA dues — which her government pegs at over Rs 51,627 crore — remain unpaid, despite rural workers staging protests both in the state and in Delhi.

“The central government has stopped MNREGA. Even the High Court has given an order in our favour. Our party members went to Delhi to protest. Cases were filed against each protesting MP. The train that we booked was cancelled. A half-minister gave us a time to meet but did not turn up,” she said.

She reminded the audience that until the payment freeze in 2021, Bengal had consistently ranked first in MGNREGA person-days generated, as well as in rural housing and road development. “They have stopped all of these out of jealousy and hatred,” she alleged.

Banerjee suggested that the Centre might release a portion of the unpaid funds just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, not for development but as political optics.

“We have not received Rs 51,627 crore for MNREGA. They have kept this money hidden. Just before the polls, they will say they have released the money, but then there won’t be any time left to carry out development work. Even if they give it in December, the financial year will end in March, leaving us no time to work,” she said.

The allegation — that the Centre times fund releases to maximise political gain — echoes similar criticisms by other opposition-run states, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu, regarding centrally sponsored welfare schemes.

Banerjee also used the rally to spotlight changes to her government’s flagship income-support programme, Lakshmir Bhandar, which provides monthly payments to women.

“We have made a new rule that you do not need to apply for old-age pension separately. Those who have enrolled for Lakshmir Bhandar will get the benefit. From the age of 25 till the end of life, you will get the benefit. You don’t need to enrol again,” she said.

The integration of Lakshmir Bhandar with other social security schemes is part of the state’s strategy to demonstrate that Bengal can run its own welfare architecture even as central allocations shrink or stall.

With PTI inputs