The Trinamul Congress-led government in West Bengal has been accused of misleading the public on the issue of Central funds for rural development schemes, following a response placed in the Lok Sabha.
The issue was raised by Pratima Mondal, MP from the All India Trinamul Congress, to which Union minister of state for rural development Kamlesh Paswan responded in Parliament on 10 March.
Referring to the reply, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista claimed that the Centre’s response had exposed what he described as attempts by the state government to mislead people regarding the stoppage of funds under key rural development schemes.
According to the written reply to Lok Sabha Question No. 2989, funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme were halted on 9 March, 2022, under Section 27 of the MGNREGA Act due to persistent non-compliance by the West Bengal government with required guidelines and procedures.
The funds were stated to have been withheld after the state government failed to submit Action Taken Reports on verified irregularities, which the Centre said was necessary for further releases.
Reacting to the parliamentary response, Mr Bista said that in the Darjeeling hills, leaders aligned with the Trinamul Congress had repeatedly blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the stoppage of MGNREGA funds.