Lakhs of rural poor are dependent on the income from MNREGA, especially in the nine states that have declared drought, the Supreme Court said.
As farmers across nine states stare at drought, their income from Centre's MNREGA scheme -- a safety net for the rural poor -- also appears to have dried up. With this in mind, the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition on drought, said the Central government needs to recognise that there is a problem.
"Nine states have declared drought... there is a huge pendency of money. Who will pay, since the states won't?" the court said. "We are concerned about this emergency and how to help them. Are we doing enough?"
The relief to farmers, labourers and rural people who are dependent on schemes like MNREGA, "has to come immediately, not after one year," the court said. "You cannot turn a blind eye to drought. What is the use if the relief comes a year later? Two months later, that person many not be there."
The government said it will release Rs 7,983 crore over the next 3 days -- the amount is the backlog from 2015-16. Of this, Rs 2,723 crore will go to the drought-hit states. Rs 3,047 crore will be released in April for running MNREGA for April 2016.
The money cannot come too soon for someone like Yashoda Prajapati, a resident of Chhatarpur in drought Madhya Pradesh.
Three months ago, she and her husband worked on a well under the rural employment guarantee scheme. Till date, they haven't been paid a paisa.
In Jharkhand, another BJP-ruled state, Chief Minister Raghubar Das has written to the Centre, asking that at least half the Rs 1,800 crore promised last year be paid. There's no money for MNREGA and Jharkhand is borrowing to pay wages, Mr Das said in his letter to the Centre a few weeks ago.
"We told the court how through an informal cap, by not releasing funds, the Centre is slowly killing MNREGA... which actually plays a huge role in providing relief to people during a drought," said petitioner Yogendra Yadav. "The Centre hasn't released funds for last year, that's why no new works are being announced either."
The court has given the Centre time till tomorrow to explain its performance in drought relief.