The Supreme Court has ordered the central government to immediately resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal, ending a prolonged legal confrontation that lasted more than three years. The ruling came after the top court dismissed the Centre’s plea challenging a Calcutta High Court directive that had instructed the government to restart the scheme. This marks a significant legal and political victory for the West Bengal government, which had been pressing for the restoration of MGNREGA benefits since funds were frozen by the Centre in 2022.
MGNREGA, launched in 2006 under the UPA government, is one of India’s most ambitious social welfare programs. It guarantees at least 100 days of wage employment annually to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to perform unskilled manual work. The scheme plays a crucial role in enhancing livelihood security and reducing rural distress across India. However, in March 2022, the central government halted the release of funds to West Bengal, citing widespread corruption and mismanagement of funds under the program. The decision affected millions of rural workers who depended on the scheme for their daily livelihood.
In its June 18 order, the Calcutta High Court had observed that while allegations of corruption in MGNREGA should indeed be investigated thoroughly, the central government could not indefinitely suspend the program in the entire state. The court ruled that the suspension deprived genuine workers of their constitutional right to employment and directed the Centre to restart the scheme from August 1, 2024. The Ministry of Rural Development later informed the Lok Sabha that it was reviewing the High Court’s order, but the Centre proceeded to challenge it in the Supreme Court.
By dismissing the Centre’s appeal, the Supreme Court effectively upheld the High Court’s ruling and cleared the way for the resumption of MGNREGA operations in West Bengal. Following this verdict, the central government will now be required to release pending funds, allowing the state administration to resume payments to registered workers and restart halted projects under the rural employment guarantee program.
The judgment triggered strong political reactions in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee hailed the Supreme Court’s decision as a “historic victory” for the people of the state and described it as a “humiliating defeat” for the BJP-led central government. In a series of statements on X, Banerjee accused the BJP of using economic deprivation as a political weapon, alleging that the Centre had deliberately withheld MGNREGA funds to punish the state’s poor for supporting the TMC.
He said the BJP had tried to “bully and silence” Bengal by cutting off funds that rightfully belonged to rural workers, but the state had stood firm. “When they failed to defeat us politically, they weaponised deprivation. They imposed an economic blockade on Bengal, snatching away the wages of the poor and punishing the people for standing by maa, mati, and manush,” Banerjee said. He added that the verdict was “a democratic slap on the face of those who believed Bengal could be coerced or silenced.”
The TMC celebrated the ruling as a vindication of its long-standing charge that the Centre had unfairly targeted West Bengal for political reasons. Party leaders argued that the Supreme Court’s decision restored not only the rights of rural workers but also the principle of cooperative federalism between the Centre and states. Meanwhile, BJP leaders maintained that the suspension of funds had been justified due to evidence of large-scale corruption, though the verdict now compels them to comply with the court’s directive.
The reinstatement of MGNREGA in West Bengal is expected to provide immediate relief to lakhs of rural households who were left without guaranteed employment for over two years. It also underscores the judiciary’s role in safeguarding welfare entitlements against political conflict, setting a precedent for how disputes over social welfare implementation are to be resolved in India’s federal structure.
