As Oppn and Centre spar over MGNREGA, Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti says, ‘I am a saint, you are facing repercussions’

Issues related to MGNREGA were raised during Question Hour by DMK’s K Kanimozhi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, and Sudeep Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress.

Kanimozhi and Tharoor raised the issue of the non-availability of guaranteed 100 days of work under the scheme and non-payment of unemployment allowance in case of non-availability of work or delay in payment of wages.

Bandopadhyay, however, once again raised the issue of non-payment of MGNREGA dues to West Bengal. He said if the Centre had found irregularities in a few villages, it could stop payments to those villages but that it was unfair to stop payment to the entire state.

Referring to Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh, Bandopadhyay said the minister had asked TMC MPs to meet him on the issue but was not present himself and when they went to meet MoS Jyoti, she made them wait but did not meet.

After this, Jyoti insisted she would answer the question. “The way false allegations have been made against me… They first sought time for five people, then they said we are 10, I agreed… Then they said meet the people… I said get your representatives… I waited for two and a half hours… but they were not ready to meet,” Jyoti said.

“They are not worried about the people of Bengal, they just want to do politics. They called me a liar. Mahua Moitra said I was a paapi… I am a saint and they are facing the repercussions,” she added.

It all started with Kanimozhi raising a question about rural unemployment.

“Given that average employment provided per household under MGNREGA is less than 50 days, what are the measures that the government is taking to ensure 100 days of employment? Also, what is the government doing to ensure payments are made on time? The payments are delayed by over two months in many states. Is the government planning to pay a delay allowance as is mandated in the law?” Kanimozhi asked.

To this, Jyoti replied that the issue was related to unemployment allowance in Uttar Pradesh and she would provide the answer to the DMK MP later. Kanimozhi protested that the question was indeed related to UP suggesting that the minister must answer in the House.

Following this, Tharoor rose to say that he had the same problem with the minister. “The specific question may have been about UP but we can ask about the principle,” he said.

The senior Congress leader then quoted the law to say that in case employment is not provided against an application within 15 days, the applicant is entitled to an unemployment allowance. He said Kerala too was facing the same problem and that in many states people were not being compensated for non-availability of work.

“Is the Centre paying the states to ensure they can pay workers?” Tharoor asked.

At this, Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh said, “Till 2014 only 1,660 work days were provided (by the Congress)… Now 2,700 workdays have been created. The labour budget is prepared by the state government and the Centre approves it. There is no problem from the Centre.”