The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has urged the state government to ensure a minimum of 100 mandays for all MGNREGA job card holders during the remaining months of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The demand highlights growing concerns over the reduction in mandays under the rural employment guarantee scheme, which is crucial for supporting the state’s unorganized sector.
Addressing the press on Saturday, TPCC president Asish Kumar Saha criticized the state government for failing to meet MGNREGA targets.
“So far, an average of 44 mandays have been generated in the current financial year, compared to an average of 55 days in the previous fiscal year,” he stated.
Saha pointed out that MGNREGA, introduced during the UPA regime, was designed to provide 100 mandays to rural workers annually.
He accused the BJP of failing to deliver on its promises made in its vision document, where it assured 200 mandays for rural households and an increase in daily wages to Rs. 340.
“Instead of improving, the generation of mandays is declining, leaving the rural poor in a dire situation,” Saha said, adding that tribal areas are the hardest hit, with people struggling to secure jobs under MGNREGA amid rising unemployment, inflation, and the impact of untimely rains and floods.
Saha claimed the state government had set a target of generating 3 crore mandays for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
However, the current figures fall drastically short of this goal, with 1.30 lakh job card holders reportedly receiving no mandays out of a total of 6.83 lakh cardholders.
“The recent floods have devastated the livelihoods of nearly 20 lakh people in Tripura. Given the dire situation, we demand that the government ensure 100 mandays for MGNREGA cardholders for the rest of the fiscal year,” he said.
Saha warned that if the demand is not met, the Congress would not hesitate to launch statewide protests.
“The state’s rural poor cannot continue to suffer due to the government’s negligence. A strong agitation will be our next course of action if immediate steps are not taken,” he added.
MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) remains a lifeline for many rural households across India.
The Congress’s demand underscores growing discontent over the implementation of the scheme in Tripura, where its effective functioning is vital to supporting those impacted by economic and environmental challenges.
