Centre Revives MGNREGA in Bengal; Mamata Slams 'Insulting' Terms, Tears Letter

• Centre revives MGNREGA in West Bengal after a three-year freeze, imposing stringent oversight conditions to curb alleged irregularities.
• New norms include a Rs 20 lakh work limit, job card review, e-KYC, Aadhaar-based wage disbursals, and geo-tagged field visits.
• Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the conditions "insulting" and "restrictive," tearing up the directive and accusing the Centre of using funds politically.
• Banerjee announced the expansion of Bengal's Karmashree scheme and claimed the Centre owes the state Rs 51,627 crore in MGNREGA funds.
• The Centre stated it has no pending dues for West Bengal for the current year, having cleared wage arrears for other states up to FY25.

Why It Matters: Conditional MGNREGA revival in Bengal sparks political row, affecting rural poor.