Agartala, Dec 7 (NationPress) The Congress party in Tripura has asserted that rural residents are experiencing significant financial struggles as the state government is failing to fulfill even half of the workdays mandated by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Tripura Congress President Ashish Kumar Saha stated that the BJP government is obligated to provide 100 workdays annually under the MGNREGA; however, the government has only offered 40 days thus far in the current fiscal year (2024-25).

In the previous financial year, the state managed to provide 63 days of work, despite the MGNREGA's guarantee of 100 days for rural households, he informed the press.

Saha pointed out that before the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP government vowed to increase the workdays to 200 and raise daily wages to Rs 340.

“The BJP government has not only failed to keep its electoral promises but has also neglected to provide the guaranteed 100 days of work to the impoverished population,” said the state Congress chief.

He highlighted that more than 683,860 job card holders from 130,667 families have yet to receive a single day of work under the MGNREGA.

Saha accused the ruling BJP leaders of directing officials to allocate work to select individuals, thereby denying genuine poor workers their rightful opportunities.

He emphasized that, amid soaring prices of food, essential goods, and various commodities, the MGNREGA is the sole income source for rural citizens, and the state government has utterly failed to provide the necessary economic support to the vulnerable populations, including tribals.

The economic conditions in tribal and remote regions are particularly dire, as backward tribal communities face severe challenges in securing employment through the MGNREGA, the Congress leader noted.

Furthermore, the state government has not offered adequate assistance to the 20 lakh people who were significantly impacted by the devastating floods and landslides in August.

The catastrophic floods in Tripura resulted in the deaths of at least 40 individuals, including women and children, with numerous others injured due to landslides and drowning across six districts.