As a result, the state is for another record this financial year. It is a Central scheme but the responsibility of implementation is with the states, and Bengal is the leading state in India, a state government official today said.

The number for financial year 2016-17 was 21 crore. According to available data, in only the first nine months of 2017-18, that is, from April to December 2017, the state not only reached 21 crore but added another 3 crore to create a total of 24 crore man-days. As a comparison, the Central Government's target set for Bengal for the entire fiscal was 23 crore man-days.

Senior officials of the State Government are expecting the number to touch 30 crore by March 2018, therefore beating last financial year's figure by 9 crore, which is an increase by 42.86 per cent.

In Bengal, 52 crore people are employed under different projects with respect to the 100 Days' Work Scheme, as MGNREGA is also known, being a scheme where each rural family can get work for a maximum of 100 days per year.

Last financial year, the Centre had paid the state Rs 5,200 crore as payment for the workers.

This year, according to official working on the project, the payment is expected to cross Rs 6,000 crore.





Kolkata: West Bengal Government has created a record by reaching last year's record in creating the number of man-days, with respect to job creation through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), three months early.