On Tuesday, the Union Ministry of Rural Development told Parliament that it pays States 6,366 crore under the wage component of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
There are a total of 14.42 crore registered MGNREGS workers, and most of them are women who rely on their pay to help support their families. Only West Bengal is due 2,770 billion out of the total amount. Using Section 27 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Centre has stopped paying over 7,500 crore to West Bengal since December 2021 for "non-compliance with Central government directives."
These numbers came out in response to a question from Ramya Haridas, a member of the Lok Sabha for the Congress. Haridas also asked the centre to say how many beneficiaries haven't been paid in more than five months. The government answered that, with the exception of West Bengal, no MGNREGS worker has been waiting for more than five months to get paid.
Rajasthan, which is run by the Congress party, owes a total of 979 crore in unpaid wages, which is more than West Bengal. Bihar, which is run by the JD (U)-RJD alliance, is owed 669 billion rupees. For a total of 18 States and Union Territories, the Centre is behind on payouts for the wage component.Section 3(3) of the MGNREGA says, "Daily wages shall be paid weekly or within two weeks of the date on which the work was done, whichever is earlier."
In addition, the Centre owes 30 States and Union Territories a total of 6,266 crore in material components. It pays for 60% of the goods needed for MGNREGS work, and the State governments pay for the other 40%. The delay in the material component has a domino effect that affects other projects. When there are constant delays in paying out for material components, the local sellers who supply raw materials become hesitant to send goods, which breaks the work cycle.
Regarding material component payments, the Centre owes 2,813 crore to West Bengal, 777 crore to Uttar Pradesh, and 634 crore to Karnataka.
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