Last Updated on March 7, 2023 by SPN Editor
The Manipur Government has released Rs 406.49 crore for the payment of MGNREGS wages in anticipation of the Yaoshang festival and the end of the fiscal year.
The State Government has completely released the entire Rs 756 crore sanctioned by the Central government with this fund. In June last year, the State of Manipur received Rs 756 crore MGNREGS funds sanctioned from the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.
According to sources, the MGNREGS wages were allocated to pay liabilities for 2021-22 and take up new work in 2022-23.
The State Government today released a total of Rs. 406.49 crore, of which Rs. 31.35 crore was allocated to Bishnupur, Rs. 9.76 crore to Chandel, Rs. 53.10 crore to Churachandpur, Rs. 67.20 crore to Imphal East.
For Imphal West, Rs 38.36 crore was released, Jiribam, Rs 12 crore, Rs 19.27 crore for Kakching, Rs 11.30 crore for Kamjong, Rs 22.83 crore for Kangpokpi, Rs 11.36 crore for Noney, Rs 6.55 crore for Pherzawl, Rs 34.18 crore for Senapati, 11.20 crore for Tamenglong, Rs 27.04 crore for Tengnoupal, Rs 25.56 crore for Thoubal and Rs 25.38 crore for Ukhrul respectively as MGNREGS wages.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Central Government had approved Rs 756 crore as MGNREGS wages in June last year, according to the sources, the State Government was only issuing Rs 100 to 150 crore phase-wise due to its unstable financial situation.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj did not provide funds for the MGNREGS material component as the sanction was not fully utilized.
The funds for the material component would likely only be granted after the State Government has submitted a utilization certificate because the sanctioned amount of Rs 756 crore has already been fully disbursed.
Despite its financial limitations, the Manipur Government released the remaining amount of Rs 406.49 crore so that the utilization certificate could be submitted before the end of the financial year and the material component could be acquired without problems. This is because the sanctioned amount of Rs 756 crore must be used before the end of the current fiscal year, the sources continued.
According to the sources, funding for the material component would probably be approved this month and might range from Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore.
Even though the 2021–2022 works were finished, the MIS still lists them as ongoing since the wages and finances for the material components were not fully released, which made starting new works in 2022–2023 extremely difficult.
The sources claim that as a result, the MGNREGS job card holders are not able to work for more days,
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