West Bengal Moves to Revive MGNREGS Program

Speedy Summary

• On June 18, 2025, the Calcutta High Court ordered the resumption of the mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) in West Bengal starting August 1.
• The case was filed by Paschim Banga Khet Majoor samity (PBKMS), with the High Court asserting that MGNREGS “cannot be kept in cold storage for eternity.”
• The Center had halted funds to West Bengal’s MGNREGA programme in March 2022, citing irregularities at just 31 worksites out of over ₹10,000 crore allocated in FY2020-21.
• This suspension led to a loss of ₹4,000-6,000 crore in potential wages for rural workers during its first year alone and caused institutional challenges.
• Restarting MGNREGA operations requires groundwork like identifying projects and ensuring administrative infrastructure. Reforms such as Aadhaar-Based Payment Systems (ABPS) have complicated this process; about 43 lakh registered workers are currently non-compliant with ABPS criteria.
• Other hurdles include worker deletions from rolls (~83 lakh removed during exclusion),mandatory app-based attendance systems causing bottlenecks,human resource gaps among frontline supervisors needing retraining and incentives,and a need for openness reforms like grievance redressal mechanisms and timely payments.
• Legal uncertainty persists as the Centre has appealed this order to the Supreme Court.

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Indian Opinion Analysis

This development highlights both judicial urgency on behalf of rural workers’ rights and severe logistical obstacles rooted in systemic dysfunctions. The Calcutta High Court’s directive reinforces rural India’s constitutional entitlement to guaranteed employment but exposes gaps between judicial orders and administrative preparedness.The prolonged suspension has already weakened trust within communities reliant on MGNREGS.Reviving operations will demand collaborative efforts across Union, State governments, local panchayats backed by technology upgrades such as ABPS compliance-without disregarding key inclusivity concerns arising from worker deletions or tech-related barriers.

While augmentations like social audits could boost accountability long-term; interim measures-such as paper-based attendance reports or simplified payment processes-appear crucial per operational ground realities.

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