New Delhi: Amid MGNREGA workers protesting outside Raj Bhavan, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Sunday said he will meet those deprived of MGNREGA work and will take up their grievances with New Delhi as the Centre stopped funds under the scheme to the state, reported news agency PTI.
Bose also reacted to TMC's comments on the ongoing agitation outside Raj Bhavan, relating an allegorical tale to reporters in Darjeeling about a 'Lion Prince' who was punished by an elephant in the forest for asking who was the king of the jungle.
"I will speak with the deprived. I will hear complaints directly from them. After that, I will talk not only to the Centre but also all parties involved," Bose told reporters at Kalimpong.
Bose, who is currently visiting Darjeeling to take stock of the flood situation in north Bengal, also wrote to Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, inquiring whether permission was granted for the TMC's ongoing sit-in demonstration outside Raj Bhavan, PTI reported citing a source at the governor house.
Incidentally, a three-member TMC delegation on Saturday called on Bose in Darjeeling, where they presented demands regarding the clearance of the state's financial dues under the scheme.
Soon after meeting them, Bose said that he would be taking up the matter of MGNREGA dues of the state with the Centre.
"The governor wrote to the chief secretary wanting to know whether proper permission was given to the TMC to hold the sit-in demonstration outside the Raj Bhavan. He also asked the chief secretary where there was any breach of the law in giving permission to the ruling party in the state to hold the protest outside his residence where Section 144 of CrPC is supposed to be imposed till 150 metres from the Raj Bhavan's boundary," the source told PTI.
The Ministry of Rural Development stated on October 5 that the release of funds for West Bengal was stopped from March 9, 2022, in accordance with Section 27 of MGNREGA because of the state's non-compliance with directives of the central government.