SC asks states to respond to Centre on MGNREGA

The Supreme Court on Friday asked all states to inform the Centre about the money spent by them in the current financial year so far in implementing the national rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA.

The Bench also asked the states to apprise the Centre about their further financial needs to continue with the social welfare scheme to ensure that the benefits reached drought-affected people.

It also asked them to elaborate the current status of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and R K Agrawal asked the states to inform the concerned ministry whether they were following the Centre’s direction to provide minimum 150 days of employment under MGNREGA.

“We direct the states to respond to the Centre within three weeks,” the court said, adding that central government will collect data from all the concerned states.

The bench further asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to see whether the state governments were also complying with the provisions of the National Food Security Act and the Drought Manual or not.

The court’s direction came on a PIL which alleged that the scheme has not been implemented in majority of the states, specially in drought-affected areas.

It said parts of states like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Chattisgarh have been hit by drought and the concerned authorities were not providing adequate relief.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, sought court’s direction to appoint local commissioner in each of states, to keep a watch whether the welfares schemes are implemented. 

The Solicitor General, who read out part of the Centre’s affidavit, submitted that the government has approved the “provision of additional employment of 50 days in areas hit by drought and other natural calamities over and above 100 days per household provided under MGNREGA under normal circumstances”.