Mamata Banerjee Tears Up New MGNREGA Norms, Says Bengal Won’t Seek “Delhi’s Charity”

By A Staff Reporter

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday publicly tore up a document containing the Centre’s revised MGNREGA norms, denouncing it as a “valueless and insulting diktat” aimed at undermining the state’s rural welfare programmes. Speaking at a Trinamool Congress rally at the Ras Mela ground, Banerjee declared that Bengal would implement its own employment scheme without seeking “Delhi’s charity.”

In a fiery address, the Chief Minister accused the BJP-led central government of weaponising funds to target opposition-ruled states, particularly West Bengal. She alleged that the Centre was withholding dues under the rural employment guarantee programme out of “jealousy and hatred,” thereby pushing lakhs of beneficiaries into hardship.

Banerjee referred to a letter sent by the Centre two days earlier, which, she claimed, imposed “absurd and restrictive” conditions on the programme’s implementation. These included mandatory submission of a quarterly labour budget, compulsory training before engaging workers, and additional bureaucratic requirements that she said would delay employment and hurt rural livelihoods.

Holding up the letter before the crowd, Banerjee tore it to pieces, saying, “This is an insult to the people of Bengal. We will not bow down to such conditions. Bengal will run its own scheme—without begging for Delhi’s charity.”