Release MGNREGS MC fund or face stir: Ukhrul body
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang

Ukhrul, July 15 2025: Ukhrul District MGNREGS Welfare Association has urged the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (RD&PR), Manipur, for immediate intervention to facilitate release of the long-pending Material Cost (MC) funds, threatening that the association would launch intense agitations if the demand is not fulfilled within 30 days.

In a letter submitted on July 14 - addressed to the RD&PR State Employment Guarantee Commissioner and routed through Outer Manipur Lok Sabha MP Alfred Kanngam Arthur - Association's president S Leishishang and secretary R Mahira asserted that the crucial MC funds, intended for public infrastructure and employment under MGNREGS, have been withheld for three consecutive financial years across various Gram Panchayats and Village Authorities in Ukhrul district.

"Despite the sanctioning of labour components and administrative approval of works, the failure to release the Material Cost has completely paralysed ongoing and planned projects," the association stated, adding that the same has not only disrupted the scheme's core objectives but has effectively blocked the procurement of essential construction materials, bringing all approved works, including vital public infrastructure development, to a complete standstill.

The association pointed out that this financial deadlock has directly denied vital employment opportunities to the rural poor who depend on MGNREGS work for their livelihood.

Thousands of job-card holders and rural families are now facing immense hardship due to the loss of employment opportunities, it maintained.

Underscoring the broader implications, the association contended that continued delay goes against the very spirit and guidelines of MGNREGA, which mandates timely disbursement of funds to ensure uninterrupted implementation and livelihood support.

"Our local skilled and unskilled workers are losing employment opportunities, and the rural population is suffering needlessly," it added.

The association also revealed that multiple complaints and verbal follow-ups made to the District Programme Coordinator (DPC), Ukhrul, have so far yielded no results.

"If the long-pending MC funds are not released within 30 days, we would be compelled to initiate appropriate legal proceedings before the competent Court of Law, and may also be forced to launch a mass public agitation in protest of the prolonged and unjust delay," it threatened.

The association further demanded that in case of discovery of any misappropriation, misuse, or diversion of MGNREGS funds, necessary legal and disciplinary actions be taken immediately against all concerned or officers responsible.

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