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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Calcutta High Court's MGNREGA order underlines people shouldn't suffer for the corruption of a few
Written by Purbayan Chakraborty and Mrinalini Paul In a recent verdict, the Calcutta High Court has directed the Centre to resume work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal from August 1. The Centre, through an earlier order dated March 9, 2022, stopped releasing funds for the scheme, citing irregularities under Section 27 of the Act. In May 2023, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, a rural workers' trade union, filed a petition in the HC challenging the suspension. The HC order is a much-awaited relief for the state and its millions of NREGA workers. The Right to Livelihood is a fundamental right that flows from Article 21 of the Constitution. Any executive action that seeks to curtail a fundamental right must pass the proportionality test as laid down and consistently employed by the Supreme Court in a series of cases like Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (2024). The test requires that any such executive measure hold a legitimate objective and follow suitable means. It also mandates the use of an equally effective alternative. The impact on the individual's right must not be out of proportion to the objective being pursued. The irregularities were found in only a few of West Bengal's more than 3300 gram panchayats. Instead of taking targeted corrective action, the Centre chose to issue a state-wide blanket stoppage of funds under MGNREGA, rendering millions of rural workers unemployed. This action was neither the least restrictive nor proportionate to the objective that was being pursued. Hence, it failed the proportionality test on both counts. Section 27 of the Act empowers the Centre to stop the funds under the MGNREGA scheme as a last resort in cases of proven irregularities. But it also places a corresponding duty on it to employ remedial measures in a time-bound manner and resume implementation of the scheme within a reasonable period of time. However, in this case, even after more than three years, the Centre failed to resume funding. Therefore, the HC rightly held: 'The scheme of the act does not envisage a situation where it would be put to cold storage for eternity.' Section 27 balances accountability with livelihood — that balance was breached in this case. The HC's order is a reaffirmation that executive in the exercise of their discretionary powers cannot go beyond statutory or constitutional limitations. Corruption is grave but not uncommon in our country. But should the vulnerable people suffer due to corruption at higher levels? The funding was stopped at a time when the MGNREGA could have been a coping mechanism, especially for the thousands of poor rural workers who had returned home due to Covid. Unpaid wages and no new work in sight forced them further towards a vicious cycle of poverty, indebtedness, migration and malnutrition. The deprivation of the state and its population doesn't stop in MNREGA; it extends to other central schemes as well. The Ministry of Rural Development has informed a parliamentary panel that almost Rs 8,000 crore is yet to be released under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMA-G) for West Bengal. In 2023, the state accused the Centre of stopping funds for Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY). However, the then Union Minister Smriti Irani refuted these allegations, saying that the state government was misusing funds and Rs 260 crore 'were lying unused'. West Bengal is also one of the three states in the country that refused to comply with the PM SHRI scheme and, as a result, has not received any funding for the Samagra Shiksha scheme (2024-25). However, the state government's response has been very confusing. Apart from playing the victim, it has rarely seemed to pursue logical or legal action. Often, it rushed to launch the state equivalent of the schemes that are blocked by the Centre. This happened even in the case of MGNREGA. The state launched the Karmashree scheme in 2024, under which every MGNREGA job cardholder household is supposed to get 50 days of work in a year. Launched just before the general elections, in no way, does it match the meticulous provisions of MGNREGA. For instance, Karmashree does not have any separately allocated budget |nor any mention of unemployment allowance. While the HC Order comes as an immediate respite to the state's 257 lakh registered NREGA workers, governments should read its larger message against 'weaponising schemes'. That corruption will not be tolerated is explicit in the order, as the HC empowered the Centre to impose special conditions on the state so that past issues do not recur. But that doesn't mean that people's lives and livelihoods could be compromised. With the assembly elections scheduled next year, the order has been hailed as a victory by both the TMC and BJP, but the real victory lies in the warning of the judiciary that they dare not mix up the politics of corruption and politics of welfare further. Chakraborty is a Kolkata-based lawyer and Paul is a researcher at TISS
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Adarsh Colony demolished, UT reclaims 12 acres
The UT estate office demolished Adarsh Colony, an illegal settlement spread across Sectors 53 and 54, under its ongoing slum-free campaign on Thursday. It was the second last remaining slum in the city. The colony, which came up nearly two decades ago on approximately 12 acres of government land, housed around 1,000 shanties. The estimated value of the reclaimed land is ₹480 crore. The land, acquired by the Chandigarh Administration in 2002, is part of the city's master plan and will now be integrated into Sector 54 where residential plots are proposed to be developed. The demolition drive began at 6.30 am and continued until 10.30 pm. However, the operation was halted for nearly four hours after some occupants filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Wednesday. The hearing was scheduled for Thursday morning and after the court dismissed the petition, the drive resumed at 2.30 pm and concluded by 5.30 pm. To maintain law and order, around 1,000 police personnel were deployed at the site. Additionally, six ambulances, along with doctors and paramedical staff, were stationed to provide emergency medical support, if needed. Established in 2002, Adarsh Colony was home to labourers, hawkers, industrial workers, daily wagers, sanitation workers and domestic helpers, many of whom worked in the nearby furniture market. Now, only one slum area — Shahpur Colony in Sector 38 — is left in the UT. Spread over four acres, Shahpur Colony comprises about 300 shanties on encroached government land valued at ₹150 crore. Deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said, 'This drive is not just about reclaiming land, but about sending a clear message that encroachments will not be tolerated. The reclaimed land will now be used in line with planned urban development goals.' To curb future encroachments, the administration has assigned three to four sectors to each junior engineer, who is required to submit a weekly report on any encroachment activity in their respective areas. The administration has been working to make Chandigarh slum-free since the early 2000s. In 2006, it launched an ambitious rehabilitation initiative under the Chandigarh Small Flats Scheme, earmarking 356 acres — nearly 20% of the city's 2,811 acres of net vacant land — for the construction of 25,728 flats intended to house 23,841 families from 18 unauthorised colonies. The identified families, comprising over one lakh residents, were required to pay a nominal monthly rent after relocation. However, delays and non-payment have resulted in significant outstanding dues. In two months, the UT has reclaimed 28 acres as it razed Janta Colony in Sector 25 on May 6, reclaiming around 10 acres worth ₹350 crore. The site is now being earmarked for a dispensary, primary school, community centre and shopping area. On April 24, over 1,000 makeshift structures were razed in Sanjay Colony, Industrial Area, Phase 1. The colony had been encroaching on nearly six acres of prime government land worth ₹300 crore. In 2013, it razed Colony Number 5, followed by Colony Number 4 in 2022. Together, these two slums had occupied over 165 acres. Other demolished slums include Mazdoor Colony, Kuldeep Colony, Pandit Colony, Nehru Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Kajheri Colony and Madrasi Colony.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Telangana HC ends 16-year land row: Bholakpur slum status under review; collector told to act in 6 months, inform GHMC
HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court has disposed of a long-pending dispute over a property located in Bholakpur, Secunderabad, originally filed in 2008, along with a connected contempt case from 2021. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The court directed the Hyderabad district collector to conduct an inquiry under the provisions of the Slum Improvement Act and to complete it within six months. The court further directed the collector to issue a reasoned order, taking into account all relevant facts, and to communicate the same to the petitioners in both the writ and contempt petitions, as well as to GHMC for necessary action. The dispute concerns approximately 12,056 square yards of private land known as 'Ramaswamy compound,' of which 9,000 square yards were notified as a slum area in 1999. The writ petitioners, claiming to be absolute owners of the land, challenged slum notification. Meanwhile, the contempt petitioners contested the 2007 GHMC eviction orders and a 2016 HC direction to maintain status quo. They also claimed to have been in possession of land for several decades, while the 2008 petitioners stated they had already secured eviction orders under Rent Control Act. While the petitioners in the contempt case alleged unauthorised demolition on the disputed land, the advocate commissioner's report found no proof of such activity.
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana HC notices to Chief Secretary, Naveen Mittal in octogenarian's pleas
Justice N. Tukaramji of Telangana High Court on Thursday (June 19, 2025) issued notices to senior IAS officer Naveen Mittal and three others in a criminal petition filed by an octogenarian Shanti Agarwal seeking a direction to set aside a trial court order which kept in abeyance criminal action against four of them. The petitioner, represented by her son Atul Agarwal, wanted the HC to dismiss the order of the 12th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. The trial court passed the order in a case filed by Shanti Agarwal to take cognisance of the charges against the IAS officer and three others in a land related matter. According to the petitioner, she purchased an evacuee property of 5,262 square yards of land in Nanalnagar of Gudimalkapur in Hyderabad in 1965. She contended that IAS officer Naveen Mittal in 2011 while serving as Hyderabad district Collector gave No Objection Certificate to some persons unconnected to the said land. She claimed that she had moved the HC which dismissed the NOC issued by Naveen Mittal and recommended disciplinary action against Mittal and some other Revenue officials accused of involvement in issuing the NOC. Meanwhile, the trial court passed an order keeping in abeyance the action of taking cognisance of the charges against the IAS officer and others. Challenging this, the petitioner filed criminal petition. In a related development, Justice K. Lakshman of the HC issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Naveen Mittal and R. Keshavulu (Inspector in Land Survey and Records department) in a writ petition filed by Shanti Agarwal. In this petition, she sought a direction to Chief Secretary to prosecute Naveen Mittal and R. Keshavulu in the backdrop of a single judge order to initiate disciplinary action against them. The petitioner contended that she represented to the Chief Secretary to prosecute Naveen Mittal in the backdrop of the HC single judge pronouncing order to initiate action against him in issuing NOC over her land at Nanalnagar.
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
HC initiates PIL on ‘tree felling' by a realtor in Gurugram
The Punjab and Haryana high court has initiated suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on a news report about environmentalists and locals opposing reported felling of trees in Gurugram by a realtor. The report carried on June 12 by an English daily had stated that residents and environmentalists have launched protests over allegations of the process of felling of nearly 2,000 trees on an estimated 40 acre of land in DLF Phase 5 in Gurugram. The report said representatives of the Aravali Bachao Citizen's Movement also staged a protest outside a Haryana minister's residence and have also written to chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and union minister for environment for their intervention. The report had also quoted a senior officer of forest department of Haryana government claiming that it was not a forest land and was owned by the DLF for years. The HC vacation bench of justice Anil Kshetarpal and justice Aman Chaudhary while issuing notice for June 26, said that the issue raised in the petition was being taken up as PIL and listed it for June 26 for responses from the commissioner, municipal corporation, Gurugram and managing director, DLF Limited.
