TMC protest against Centre for 'withholding MGNREGA funds' enters third day

KOLKATA: The Raj Bhavan protest staged by Trinamool Congress (TMC) against the Central government alleging a delay in fund allocation under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other social security schemes for West Bengal entered the third day on Saturday in Kolkata.

The TMC's protest against the Centre's alleged delay under the leadership of party national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee started on Thursday.

A delegation of TMC MPs will be meeting West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose today to discuss the issues. TMC MP Mahua Moitra said that it is the duty of West Bengal Governor to solve the issue.

"We wanted to meet WB Governor as we were protesting in Kolkata.

He is in Darjeeling right now and we have come here to ask him to meet our delegation team in Kolkata and solve the issue of the non-payment of MGNREGA workers. He is the Governor of West Bengal and it is his duty to solve this issue," MP Moitra said while speaking to ANI in Bagdogra.

Amid the protests, Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said that he would not take part in Durga Puja festivities till the state's Governor meets him in Kolkata. Earlier on Thursday, the party workers organised a 'Raj Bhavan Chalo Abhiyan' in Kolkata.

The TMC leaders during the protest said that the march to the Raj Bhavan had been organized to draw Governor CV Ananda Bose's attention to the plight of the poor people of the state who have been deprived of their rights by the BJP-led central Government.

The protest rally is to raise the demand for Bengal's rightful dues of MGNREGA, said the TMC leaders. TMC minister Babu Supriyo earlier told ANI that the people of Bengal are with TMC and people over here at the protest are not just TMC workers but the common public of Bengal who have been deprived of their wages under MGNREGA.