Delhi: TMC Seeks Permission To Set Up Tents At Pragati Maidan For Workers To Protest Non-Payment Of Dues

In a letter to DCP Darya Ganj, Delhi, TMC MP Derek O’Brien has sought permission to set up tents and arrange accommodation for MGNREGA workers from Bengal at Ram Leela Maidan.

The Trinamool Congress has written a fresh letter to Delhi Police and sought permission to set up tents and arrange accommodation for MGNREGA workers from Bengal at Ram Leela Maidan in Delhi, who will be sitting on a protest from September 30 to October 4.  
 
In a letter to DCP, Darya Ganj, Delhi, TMC MP Derek O’Brien said, ” With reference to my letter dated August 30 and August 31, 2023 requesting for permission for the All India Trinamool Congress to set up pandals/tents and arrange accommodation/night stay for about 50,000 people at Ram Leela Maidan from September 30 to October 4, 2023 for MGNREGA workers from Bengal who will be dharna at different locations in Delhi. We are yet to receive a response regarding the same. Request for an update at the earliest.”

Earlier this month, , the TMC leader wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Parliament Street Police Station and claimed that workers from West Bengal have been denied wages under the MGNREGA scheme.

"With reference to my letter dated August 31, 2023, requesting for permission for the All India Trinamool Congress to hold a dharna involving workers from the State of Bengal who have been denied wages under the MGNREGA scheme from 10 AM to 6 PM on October 2 and October 3, 2023 at Krishi Bhawan. We are yet to receive a response regarding the same. Request for an update at the earliest, the letter read.

Earlier, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had announced ‘Delhi Chalo’, saying the party would take to the streets of Delhi on October 2 to protest against the Centre government withholding the dues of the West Bengal government.

In July, Abhishek Banerjee exhorted the party's local leaders and supporters to gherao the homes of BJP leaders in Bengal on August 5. He said that this is the only way left now to demand the blocked funds for Bengal. He said that the 100-day-work scheme funds amounting to nearly Rs 7,000 crore. He was speaking at the Trinamool Congress's annual Martyr's Day rally.

"The centre has also blocked dues of the 100-day work scheme under the MGNREGA. This amounts to Rs 7,000-8,000 crore. All our local leaders should peacefully gherao the homes of all BJP leaders in the state to protest this," he said. TMC supremo and Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee said that the gherao must be held peacefully and at least 100 metres away from the homes of the BJP leaders.

"If there are elders in the house, do not trouble them. Let them pass freely. Conduct symbolic gheraos in blocks. Do not create hindrances for the family members [of the BJP leaders]. Stay 100 metres away from the houses so that no one can accuse us of illegal confinement."