Over 40% of embezzled MGNREGA funds recovered in Bengal, LS told
Pemmasani informed the Lok Sabha that ₹2.39 crore has been recovered out of an estimated ₹5.37 crore that was misappropriated, with ₹3.02 crore still pending recovery
The Union government has recovered over 40% of misappropriated funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in West Bengal, minister of state for rural development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani told Parliament on Tuesday.
Pemmasani informed the Lok Sabha that ₹2.39 crore has been recovered out of an estimated ₹5.37 crore that was misappropriated, with ₹3.02 crore still pending recovery. This marks the first time the Centre has publicly addressed specific details about fund misappropriation in West Bengal.
“When it comes to West Bengal this has been a particular situation: when the central government had given money, multiple things went wrong,” Pemmasani said. “We sent an auditor and there were a total of 44 works with irregularities, in which recoveries have been made in 34, and in the remaining 10 [recoveries are yet to be made].”
The minister assured that the state’s issues would be resolved soon, with rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expected to meet with his West Bengal counterpart to address pending concerns.
Centre suspended MGNREGA funding to West Bengal in March 2022, citing widespread irregularities in the scheme’s implementation. According to RTI replies, the decision followed inspections of 63 worksites, with inconsistencies reported in 31 locations.
West Bengal received ₹7,507.80 crore in fiscal year 2021-22 under MGNREGA but has received no funds in the following three fiscal years.
He emphasised that in West Bengal, MGNREGA work had been improperly awarded to contractors on a nomination basis.
Trinamool Congress MP Bapi Haldar raised concerns about pending wages for workers in West Bengal, while Congress’s Kerala MP Adoor Prakash pointed out that ₹811 crore remains pending under MGNREGA in Kerala.
A recent report by the standing committee on rural development, presented in the Lok Sabha on March 13, highlighted the “severe consequences” of the continued suspension of funds to West Bengal, including increased distress migration and disruptions in rural development initiatives.
MGNREGA is a demand-driven employment scheme that guarantees 100 days of wage employment each financial year to rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. There are 34 million registered MGNREGA workers in West Bengal. Centre bears 90% of the scheme’s budget.
