West Bengal starts transfer of MGNREGA dues of around 3 million workers

The West Bengal government has started paying dues of around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers in the state, a senior minister said.

The state government started transferring dues amounting to Rs 2,700 crore to the bank accounts of MGNREGA workers on Monday. These dues have been pending from the Centre since March 2022, he said.

"A large number of transfers were successfully done yesterday but some were unsuccessful due to technical issues from the bank-end. We hope that the remaining transfers will be completed by today," state Panchayat Minister Pradip Majumdar told PTI.

He said around 30 lakh MGNREGA workers will receive the due amounts, with the maximum hailing from South 24 Parganas district.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier this month staged a 48-hour dharna in Kolkata demanding that the Centre release the unpaid dues to the state.

She had then announced that her government would transfer the dues to the bank accounts of the MGNREGA workers.