No resumption of MGNREGA work in West Bengal despite HC order says PBKMS

Despite an order by the Calcutta High Court, to resume MGNREGA in West Bengal from August 1, there has been no resumption of 100 days work, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, a union of agricultural workers, said on Friday (August 1, 2025).

Hearing a petition of PBKMS a division bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by T.S. Sivagnanam on June 18 directed the resumption of the scheme from August 1

“Yet, even after this landmark victory for rural workers, both the Central and State governments have chosen to brazenly defy the Court’s order. Instead of preparing for the resumption of work, block offices in multiple districts are refusing to even accept job applications. This is a deliberate attack on the right to work of the state’s poorest,” a press statement by PBKMS said.

The union also added that job applications by people made under MGNREGA have been rejected. “In just four days, between 28th and 31st July 2025, 2,092 job applications were submitted across block offices in Purulia, South 24 Parganas, and North 24 Parganas districts. Meanwhile, job applications from 1,349 workers were illegally rejected in 9 block offices across 7 districts,” the union said.

A representative of PBKMS said that when they contacted the NREGA Commissioner, he clearly stated that no work will begin unless the Central Government issues fresh instructions - a position that clearly undermines the authority of the Calcutta High Court.  

Alleging willful inaction by both the governments, the union stated that the Central Government is equally guilty and by hiding behind Section 27 of the MGNREGA Act, “it continues to block the release of funds and work, systematically depriving Bengal’s workers of their legal right to employment”.

The workers union also claimed that in Nadia district’s Krishnagar-II block, when a member of the union accompanied workers to submit job applications, the BDO and several panchayat pradhans responded with abuse and threats, calling him a “Bangladeshi” and threatening him with arrest and punitive action.

Demanding the immediate implementation of MGNREGA work in West Bengal, as per the High Court order, the PBKMS stated that this blatant “non-compliance with a High Court order is illegal, unjust, and unacceptable and it continue our struggle for the right to work in every village and every district”.

Before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the Trinamool Congress along with MGNREGA workers held protests in Delhi demanding payment of wages and resumption of work. However, West Bengal’s ruling party response to the High Court order has been lukewarm. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said her government has started Karmashree Prakalpa to provide at least 50 days of wage employment to each Job Card holder household in a financial year. The scheme, however, is not visible at the grass roots level .Work under MGNREGA had stopped in the State since December 2021 which has resulted in widespread rural distress and migration.