The West Bengal government would pay money to 21.75 lakh job card holders in the state if the central government does not release funds lying unpaid under the MGNREGA scheme by 30 June in 2024.

Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP from Diamond Harbour and party’s national general secretary, assured this on Thursday afternoon while addressing a rally held at Vidyanagar Multipurpose School ground at Satgachia in the Bishnupur area of South 24-Parganas.

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“The Centre is bound to release the funds and as a result of which, 21.75 lakh unemployed people in Bengal are not getting wages despite doing work under the MGNREGA scheme. We will wait for another six months till 30 June, 2024. Our government will pay the wages if the Centre does not release funds. The amount will be credited in the bank accounts of the job card-holders under the scheme,” Mr Banerjee said.

“We have already given a deadline to the central government demanding payment of the dues by 31 October. Otherwise, we will intensify our movement against the Centre so that it releases the amount,” the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress said.

“I have already staged dharna in Delhi demanding central government funds under MGNREGA and Awas Yojana schemes. The Union minister of state for rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti fled through the backdoor when we staged a sit-in programme at her office in Delhi. Here in Kolkata, we staged a ‘march to Raj Bhavan’ programme for five days on the same issue. Finally, the Governor was forced to meet us at Raj Bhavan and assured to take up the issue with the centre,” he said.

“I won’t surrender before Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, rather I would continue the protest against the Central for its reluctant attitude to pay funds. They are also sitting idle on Awas Yojana though we have already sent a list of 11.36 lakh people, who require funds under the scheme,” he alleged.

“They are engaging central agencies, a section of the judiciary and media against me because I am raising my voices against them. But they can’t resist my fight for legitimate rights of people of Bengal,” he said.

Mr Banerjee distributed clothes among villagers in his constituency during the rally.