Lok Sabha adjourned briefly over MGNREGA

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for 15 minutes during question hour after Opposition MPs of the Congress, DMK and TMC, staged a noisy protest after they separately alleged delay in clearing of MGNREGA funds dues in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala. The government, however, refuted the charges, saying the dues were being periodically cleared and maintained that it has never discriminated against any state in the release of MGNREGA funds.

DMK MP Kanimozhi said Tamil Nadu has been waiting for ₹4,034 cr in MGNREGA payments for the past five months, Adoor Prakash of Congress said workers in Kerala have not received wages for the past three months, and ₹811 cr is due under the scheme. DMK MPs alleged no sanction of MGNREGA work in the state. Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani refuted the claims of withholding funds, saying the spending on this scheme by the Modi government was much more than during the UPA regimes.