The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Union government to immediately implement the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in West Bengal and granted four weeks to file an affidavit on the issue of pending arrears to beneficiaries.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, while passing an interim order, observed, “So far as payment of arrears is concerned, four weeks’ time is granted to the Centre and other respondents to file their affidavit-in-opposition.” The bench also allowed the petitioners to file replies within two weeks thereafter and scheduled the next hearing after six weeks.

The bench noted that it had previously disapproved of the Union government’s decision to withhold MGNREGA benef

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