West Bengal Mgnrega Labour Budget Suvendu Adhikari Shivraj Chouhan

The Centre is set to approve West Bengal’s labour budget under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGS), four years after it suspended the implementation of the rural jobs programme in the state by invoking special powers under the MG-NREGA Act.

An announcement of this effect is likely to be made after a meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday. The meeting is scheduled to take place around 7 pm on Monday. According to sources, the Centre is also likely to announce additional houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin).

The move comes after change in guard in Bengal following ousting of Mamta Banerjee led-TMC and the BJP coming to power.

It is learnt that the Empowered Committee (EC), chaired by Union Rural Development Secretary Rohit Kansal, met few days ago and discussed approval of West Bengal’s labour budget for the month of June. The state is likely to get about Rs 300-400 crore under the MG-NREGS in the month of June, said a source.

The EC has discussed the state government’s proposal regarding the labour budget, a formal approval is yet to be conveyed by the Centre to the State.

The labour budget will be approved for only the month of June as the Centre has announced rollout of its new rural job scheme from July 1 under the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB – G RAM G) Act, 2025. Once the new scheme becomes effective in the state, the two-decade old MG-NREGA will cease to exist.

However, it is not clear whether the approval of West Bengal’s labour budget will be subject to the “mandatory compliance with the special conditions” stipulated by the Ministry of Rural Development in its order dated December 6, 2025, or whether it will be issued without any such conditions.

An email seeking the MoRD’s comments did not yield a response.

The Centre had stopped the release of funds to West Bengal with effect from March 9, 2022, “due to non-compliance of directives of Central Government”, by invoking Section 27 of the MGNREGA, 2005. Since then, no work under the NREGS has happened in the state. Before the scheme’s suspension, West Bengal was among the top states — 51 to 80 lakh families in the state availed it annually between 2014-15 and 2021-22. The total spending under the MG-NREGS in West Bengal was well over Rs 10,000 crore per annum (Rs 10,027 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 10,907 crore in 2021-22).

In June last year, the Calcutta High Court had directed the Centre to resume implementation of the NREGS in West Bengal. However, the Centre challenged the Calcutta HC order in the Supreme Court, which did not interfere in the matter and rejected the Central Government’s Special Leave petition on October 27, 2025. After a setback from the apex court, the Union Ministry of Rural Development issued an order on December 6, 2025 for the resumption of the implementation of the MG-NREGS in Bengal, with “mandatory compliance with the special conditions.” The Centre also requested the state government to submit the Labour Budget proposal for the Financial Year 2025-26 (April-March). However, the TMC government did not send a proposal.

After the TMC government was defeated and the newly elected Suvendu Adhikari government set the ball rolling, following which the EC considered approval of the state’s labour budget.

While the issue of approval of the labour budget seems sorted out, another point of contention between the Centre and state remains–the pending liabilities.

The West Bengal government sources now say that the total Central share( both actual and projected) could be around Rs 43,000 crore for the MG-NREGS. The projected NREGS dues are calculated based on average annual spending (about Rs 10,000 crore) under the MG-NREGS in the state before it was halted in March 2022. According to the states, a Central share of Rs 24,275 crore is due for PMAY-G. The Centre had stopped release of funds under the rural housing scheme following complaints of alleged irregularities in the implementation of the scheme in the state.

However, the Centre pegs the dues at a much lower level. Responding to a starred question asked by TMC member Jawar Sircar, Chouhan’s predecessor and then Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on December 06, 2023, informed Rajya Sabha that a total amount of Rs 13,965.91 crore was pending as Central share for two schemes—MG-NREGS and PMAY-G.

According to the sources at the Union Ministry of Rural Development, an amount of Rs 3083 crore was outstanding to West Bengal under the MG-NREGS as on March 9, 2022 and an expenditure of Rs 2,513 crore was incurred by the state government after stoppage of funds by the Centre, taking the total dues to Rs 5,596 crore.

Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister’s Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More