The Centre has increased West Bengal's labour budget for the creation of 27 crore person-days under the MGNREGA scheme, a decision, which senior officials of the state said, was prompted by the Mamata Banerjee government's move to meet the financial year's target of generating 22 crore man-days and even exceeding it in just about seven months.
The state government has always tried to ensure that people get to reap the benefits of MGNREGA scheme, panchayat and rural development minister Pulak Roy said.
"It is true that the Centre has increased the labour budget for West Bengal to 27 crore person-days. It has been our constant endeavour to ensure that the rural masses are not deprived of the benefits of the scheme," Mr Roy said when contacted.
A senior official said that the Centre had allocated 22 crore person-days for the state in the current fiscal, and the West Bengal government successfully generated 24.5 crore man-days by October-end.
Last week, the number rose to 24.84 crore person-days, the official said.
"This success must have prompted the Union government to increase the labour budget," he claimed.
A total of 94.30 lakh individuals were given jobs to create the 24.84 crore person-days, he said.
Over 45 per cent man-days were created by engaging women in various jobs, the official added.
