Kolkata: Trinamool Congress on Tuesday questioned the Centre’s stance towards Bengal after junior rural development minister Kamlesh Paswan informed party MP Mala Roy that only two fake NREGA job card holders had been found in the state in 2024–25, whereas the figures for UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, Odisha and MP ran into the thousands.In a statement on X, TMC said the figures placed in the Lok Sabha by the central minister clearly showed that 11,07,814 fake MGNREGA job cards were deleted across India between 2022 and 2025. “BJP-governed Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for 4,50,172 deletions, 40.6% of the total. The other top offenders, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, are all Double Engine states. Bengal saw just 5,984 deletions, a mere 0.5%,” the party said. The party questioned BJP, asking, “Yet it is Bengal whose MGNREGA funds were cruelly blocked, with bogus allegations of irregularities. So, which is it, BJP? Were you lying all along to justify your economic blockade against Bengal out of pure political vendetta? Or are BJP-ruled states simply above scrutiny?”Calcutta High Court on June 18 directed the Centre to resume the 100 days’ work programme in Bengal from August 1, saying the scheme could not be “put in cold storage for eternity”. The NREGA scheme was suspended in the state for close to three years. A person who obtained wages illegally or under fictitious names could not go free and had to be dealt with firmly, Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said. “But what about those who did the work genuinely?” he asked, observing: “A line should be drawn and a cut-off date announced.“Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “The Centre told Lok Sabha that it is examining the HC order. This is an unprecedented blockade. The data shows that Bengal is being punished for its transparency and BJP-governed states are being rewarded for their illegality.”
