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.
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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.
