A day after the Calcutta High Court directed the resumption of MGNREGS in West Bengal, political parties in the State tried to take credit for the return of the 100-days-work scheme after a three-year hiatus.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee on Wednesday (June 18) directed the Union government to resume the Centrally funded scheme from August 1.
Welcoming the High Court order, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee noted that her government had already started a scheme called “Karmashree” to provide 50 days work to people in the State.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the stoppage of the scheme in the State was “revenge and retribution” after the BJP failed to defeat his party in the 2021 Assembly polls. “We welcome it. We made a promise to the people of Bengal — that we would fight for their rights with every ounce of strength in our bodies, and we reaffirm our commitment to fight for Bengal against the ZAMINDARS in every forum, at every level,” he said.
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The West Bengal BJP leadership described the resumption of the scheme as a “resounding slap to Trinamool’s corrupt machinery”. “Bengal’s poorest will finally receive what’s rightfully theirs. But make no mistake — Mamata Banerjee Government will try everything to derail this because she simply cannot tolerate any system that she doesn’t control and cannot exploit,” State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said.
BJP MP and party spokesperson for the State, Shamik Bhattacharya also spoke on similar lines, asserting that the BJP and Union government wanted to give people 100-day work money. “We understand that the Trinamool government has pushed its people so far into poverty in this State that they have to depend on this money,” he said.
The stoppage of the scheme since March 2022 has affected about 2.5 crore workers in the State. The petition to resume work under MGNREGS was filed by Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), a union of agricultural workers, before the Calcutta High Court.
In a statement, PBKMS said that the union viewed the High Court order “as a significant victory for rural workers in West Bengal and a strong reaffirmation of their right to work under MGNREGA”.
The union would remain committed to monitoring the implementation of the court’s order and would continue to stand with the workers in their struggle for dignity and justice, it said.
Observing that the court order came in response to a petition filed by PBKMS challenging the Central government’s suspension of MGNREGS in the State, PBKMS said that the suspension, which lasted over three years, deprived nearly 2.5 crore registered rural workers of their statutory right to employment under the Act.
“PBKMS, on behalf of MGNREGA workers of Bengal, extends heartfelt gratitude to the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha and its constituent organisations who stood in solidarity with the rural workers of Bengal throughout this fight,” the statement added.
Published – June 19, 2025 11:01 pm IST