TN Finance Minister meets Nirmala Sitharaman, seeks Rs 1,635 cr wage dues under MGNREGS

Chennai, Jan 27 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennsarsu called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the national capital on Monday and sought the immediate release of Rs 1,635 crore wage arrears due for workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the state.

The sum sought by Tamil Nadu was the wage dues accumulated from November 27, 2024, till date.

Thennarasu was accompanied by DMK parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi and Additional Chief Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13 requested the Centre to immediately release the amount due for the state.

“Tamil Nadu has always been a pioneer in implementing the MGNREGS and has consistently been the top state in terms of manpower generation, women participation, employment of differently-abled persons, timely payment of wages, completion of work, and asset creation,” a release here said.

Over 1.09 crore workers from 85 lakh families in Tamil Nadu have registered themselves under this scheme. About 86 per cent of the employment opportunities were provided to women workers and 29 per cent of the total employment opportunities were provided to Adi Dravidars and Scheduled Tribe families. Moreover, over one lakh differently-abled workers were getting employment under this scheme every year.

“Since the funds have not been released till date, the state finance minister met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and requested the early disbursal,” the release said.