Stoppage of MGNREGA Work and Wages in West Bengal: An Interim Report of a Fact Finding Investigation


  • July 28, 2022
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MGNREGA is being used as a tool for political tussle between the Modi and Mamata governments without caring about violation of Right to Life of more than 3.4 crore registered workers across the state of West Bengal. MGNREGA workers in West Bengal have not been paid for the work they have done since 26th December, 2021. Households, on an average are owed Rs. 3,000-8,000. Denial of work and wages to workers is in contravention to the Supreme Court’s judgement in ‘Swaraj Abhiyan vs Union of India’(Writ petition 857/2015) case. The political parties, mass organisations, trade unions, civil society, and the people of West Bengal need to come together and pressurise, both the Central and State Governments, to ensure that MGNREGA is implemented and the rights of workers in the state are upheld.

 

Background

 

From 25.07.2022 to 27.07.2022, a fact-finding team consisting of members from CSOs, unions and organisations working on MGNREGA from all over the country, visited West Bengal to report on the stoppage of work and wages under MGNREGA in the state. Prior to the West Bengal visit, some of the team members met the senior officials from MORD to understand their point of view on the issue. Three teams visited three different districts – Purulia, South 24 Paraganas and Nadia. The team members interacted extensively with MGNREGA workers and government officials in order to get a full picture of the ongoing crisis caused by the stoppage of work and wages.

 

The objective of the fact-finding was to understand the impact of stoppage of both MGNREGA wages and works on the workers. The team tried to document how workers’ livelihoods are getting impacted, how they are coping with the income loss etc. Based on the observations from the fact-finding visits, we have listed some demands that have to be fulfilled so that workers no longer have to bear the brunt of the complications between the Central Government and the State government.

 

No Work or Wages

 

  • A majority of the workers we met complained that despite their willingness to work no work has been provided in FY 2022-23 under Even those who received work have gotten only 6-12 days of work.

 

  • The workers have not been paid for the work they have done since 26th December, Households are owed Rs. 3,000-8,000.

 

  • Most workers do not know why they have not been given work or wages in the past sevenImpact on food security and debt
  • Many workers, especially single women, reported that non-payment of wages have impacted food They often have to skip meals due to lack of resources.

 

  • Workers have stated that they have had to take loans from private lenders or microfinance institutions that lend at high interest rates to deal with the current crisis

 

Impact on employment and migration

 

  • Absence of MGNREGA work, has also led to increased In some villages, men and women in more than half of the households have migrated for work, even ones who didn’t migrate earlier.

 

  • Non-availability of MGNREGA works has resulted in workers resorting to foraging, even at personal risk, and taking up employment at rates lower than the MGNREGA wage

 

  • Non-availability of MGNREGA work has also resulted in increased unemployment in villages especially among women workers who cannot migrate for These difficulties are compounded in the case of single women or widows.

 

Effect on the Village Economy and Environment

 

  • Works that had already begun when MGNREGA work was stopped have come to a This has led to their dilapidation.

 

  • The stoppage of works that are important for the village economy and the livelihoods of workers has caused immense

 

  • Some officials expressed apprehension that the situation can accelerate to a law-and-order

 

Based on the findings we put forth the following demands:

  1. All the documents pertaining to correspondence between the Central Government and the State Government on MGNREGA since 2019, including the reports of central team visits and action taken, should be made

 

  1. The Labour Budget for West Bengal for the FY 2022-23 has to be approved immediately by the central government, so that MGNREGA works can resume without any further

 

  1. The pending wages to the tune of 2,600 crores for all MGNREGA workers need to be released immediately along with the delay compensation at the rate of 0.05% per day for the entire duration of the delay as per Para 29 of Schedule II of the MGNREG Act.

 

  1. All active job card holders should be paid unemployment allowance from 1st April 2022 till the date the works resume, as per Section 7(1) of the MGNREG Act, irrespective of whether the workers have demanded The workers have suffered due to stoppage of works, and should be compensated for the same.

 

  1. Ongoing and previously sanctioned works should be started immediately so that employment can be In FY 2021-22, workers had earned wages of around Rs. 2,700 crore in the first four months. In addition, certain works like embankments and irrigation channels are critical to the livelihoods and environment.

 

  1. The social audit unit should be made independent from bureaucratic and political It needs to be strengthened to encourage citizen oversight, to enable them to highlight anomalies and irregularities in the implementation of MGNREGA to ensure that such issues do not crop up in the future.

 

  1. Along with periodic social audits concurrent audits should be conducted, given the seriousness and scale of corruption

 

  1. The State Government should ensure strict action against the perpetrators and the recovery of funds in all cases where corruption has already been identified and

 

  1. The State Government should create a separate revolving fund, of at least 1,000 crores, for MGNREGA to ensure timely payment of wages, in the event of future delays or complications in receiving money from the Central Government.

 

We are extremely disappointed in how MGNREGA has been used as a battleground for the political tussle between the Central and State governments without caring about violation of Right to life of more than 3.4 crore registered workers across the state. Denial of work and wages is in contravention to the Supreme Court’s judgement in ‘Swaraj Abhiyan vs Union of India’(Writ petition 857/2015) case. We appeal to the political parties, media, CSOs and the people of West Bengal to come together and pressurise the Central and State Governments to ensure that MGNREGA is implemented to the full extent of the spirit of the Act and the rights of workers are upheld.

 

Contact: James Herenj – 9852910778, Chakradhar Buddha – 9246522344

 

Annexure:

Fact Sheet:

                                                                                                                       

S. No. FY 2021-22
1 Number of Households Registered 1.57 crore
2 Number of Workers Registered 3.40 crore
4 Number of Workers Received Work 1.11 crore
5 Person days of Work Provided to Women 17 crore
47% of Total Persondays of Work
6 Number of Women Provided Work 51.09 lakh
7 Persondays of Work Provided to SCs 9.25 crore
25% of Total Persondays of Work
8 Person days of Work Provided to STs 2.88 crore
8% of Total Persondays of Work
9 Persondays of Work Generated in the First Four Months of the Financial Year 13.64 crore
FY 2022-23: 3.23 crore (24% of FY 2021-

22)

10 Number of Households Provided With Work in the First Four Months of the Financial Year 79.58 lakh
FY 2022-23: 20.93 lakh
11 Pending Wages to be Paid to Workers Rs. 3,180.15 crore
12 Wages Earned by Workers in the First Four Months of the Year Rs. 2,700 crore

 

Members of the Fact-Finding Team:

Apurva, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, Delhi

 

Bijaya Chanda, Advocate

Chakradhar Buddha, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, Andhra Pradesh

James Herenj, MGNREGA Watch, Jharkhand

Jitendra Paswan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, Bihar

Parul, LibTech

Shiv Sahay, Journalist

Moumita Chakrabarty, SEWA

Sudarshana Chakrabarty, Journalist

Vijay, Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee, Delhi

 

Interpreters Dipyaman Adhikary Shovan Patua Utpal Pramanik

 

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