Congress demands immediate release of pending MGNREGA wages

Congress has demanded the immediate release of pending wages for labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which have been overdue for three months. AICC Secretary Dr. Vineet Punia criticised the delay in wage payments, suggesting it may be deliberate to undermine the scheme, alleging the BJP governments at the centre and in the state aim to abolish it. Dr. Punia stressed that the delay is unacceptable, particularly as labourers are waiting for their wages just before Diwali. He highlighted the importance of MGNREGA, enacted by the Congress government in 2005, as a significant welfare scheme for rural employment. However, he alleged that the Modi government is reducing the budget allocation for MGNREGA, with a 33 percent reduction this year. In Haryana, the scheme faces a shortfall of Rs 181.22 crores, even though works worth Rs 374 crores have already been completed. This situation reveals a significant gap between demand and supply, with labourers receiving only 24 workdays out of the mandatory 100, which is a decrease from the previous year.