MGNREGA | Calcutta High Court Proposes Constitution Of Four-Person Committee To Undertake District-Wise Verification Of Wage Claims By Workers

The Calcutta High Court has directed the constitution of a four-member committee comprising of state and central government officials along with officials from the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Accountant General.

A bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya passed the order in an ongoing plea to secure unpaid wages to the tune of Rs.276484.47 lakhs along with statutory interest for thousands of MNREGA workers who were left unpaid for a substantial amount of time.

The bench held:

The matter has been lingering before this court for a quite long period of time and this court is of the firm view that a genuine verification process has to be done district-wise by a Team of four officers. This Team to be constituted shall do the verification on a district-wise basis and in each district the verification can be done at the sub-divisional levels so that the Team can visit those Sub-Divisions and the matter can be resolved at the earliest.

The MGNERGA scheme earlier known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or NREGA, is an Indian social welfare measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work' for at least 100 days each year for unskilled workers. This act was passed on 23 August 2005 and was implemented in February 2006.

The matter has been listed on 25th January for the respective authorities to nominate their representative to the committee.

Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Sr. Adv., Mr. Purbayan Chakraborty, Adv, Mr. Saptarshi Banerjee, Adv., Mr. Kuntal Banerjee, Adv for the Petitioners.

Case: Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity & Anr. Vs. The Union of India & Ors

Case No: WPA(P) 237 of 2023

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