Release Rs 3,850 cr MGNREGS funds pending for TN, increase man days, Ramadoss appeals to Centre

CHENNAI: Pointing out that the central government has allocated only 12 crore man-days for Tamil Nadu during 2025-26, PMK founder S Ramadoss has demanded that the Union government increase it to 43 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

"The state requires a total of 43 crore man-days to provide at least 50 days of employment for a family in the State. The present allocation is insufficient. In 2023-24, Tamil Nadu was given 41 crore man days, of which 40.87 crore man days were utilised. Despite this, a majority of families registered under the scheme got an average of 59 man-days. Only 3.97 lakh families got 100 days of work," Ramadoss said in a statement.

He added that the central government allocated 20 crore man-days during the previous year, but the State government utilised 30.61 crore man-days. The central government is yet to hand over Rs 3,850 crore towards the expenses.

"Due to this, several poor families that worked under the scheme could not get their salaries. The present allocation of 12 crore man-days is insufficient. Around 85 lakh families have registered under the scheme, and 75 lakh families are utilising the scheme continuously. If the work is provided to the active families, each of the families could get jobs only for 16 days," he pointed out.

He demanded that the central government increase the man-days to 43 crore to ensure at least 50 days of work for the families. "Also, the central government should release Rs 3,850 crore immediately," he urged.