NEW DELHI: Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee got into a verbal dual with treasury bench members in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, over stalling of MNREGA funds for West Bengal.
Speaking during Question Hour, Banerjee said the benefits of MNREGA scheme are not being passed on to West Bengal. “The constant stand taken by the ministry is 25 lakh cases of fraud have been detected. We are saying you take immediate steps, investigate, initiate criminal proceedings and arrest the guilty, but you cannot stop funds for 10 crore people because of 25 lakh cases. If there is corruption why are you not acting on it,” he said.
The Sreerampur MP also attacked Union minister Giriraj Singh, for mocking the TMC leader, saying, “you are a central minister and you are behaving in this manner… who made you a minister.”
This remark at Singh drew the ire of treasury bench members, who started shouting at Banerjee and objected to his comments. Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal objected to the language used by Banerjee, to which Speaker Om Birla urged the members to address the chair rather than reacting to comments made by each other. “Choose your words wisely, if someone is saying anything unofficially, do not respond to it,” Birla said.
Replying to the debate on the Union Budget 2025-26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier said that 25 lakh fake job cards in MNREGA, funds meant for people at the grassroots, have been “looted” by TMC cadres.
After Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged in Lok Sabha that MNREGA funds were being misused in Punjab where she alleged that, “rather than being routed through panchayats, the funds are being diverted by the state governments and are being misused,” Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said strict action will be taken in such cases.
“Wherever guidelines are not being followed, funds are found to be misused, and rules violated, I assure (you) that we will send teams to investigate, and strict action will be taken,” he said.
