Tamil Nadu gets more MGNREGA funds than more populous Uttar Pradesh, Centre claims in Lok Sabha

Uttar Pradesh receives less MGNREGA funding than Tamil Nadu despite having a larger population, leading to parliamentary protests.

Uttar Pradesh, with a population that is almost triple that of Tamil Nadu, gets less funding under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, the Rural Development Ministry claimed on Tuesday (March 25, 2025), during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. The claim — which is not borne out by the fiscal data on the MGNREGA website — led to strong protests from the Opposition, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.

The fracas began when DMK MP K. Kanimozhi asked when the Union government will release ₹4,034 crore worth of MGNREGA funds that it owes to Tamil Nadu for the past five months. In response, Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said that Tamil Nadu has already received ₹7,300 crore in this fiscal year. “Tamil Nadu has a population of seven crore, U.P. has a population of 20 crore. U.P. draws close to ₹10,000 crore, Tamil Nadu draws more than ₹10,000 crore. There is no question of not giving money,” Mr. Pemmasani said. 

The ‘At A Glance’ report on the MGNREGA website, however, shows that the total expenditure in the ongoing fiscal year for Uttar Pradesh stands at ₹11,860 crore, while for Tamil Nadu it is ₹10,687 crore. So far this year, the Centre has released ₹9,758 crore to Uttar Pradesh and ₹7,414 crore to Tamil Nadu.

The wider point that MGNREGA fund allocation is not made on the basis of State population anyway is clear from the Ministry’s own response to a query earlier in the day. In a written reply to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Bapi Haldar, the Ministry said that MGNREGA “is a demand driven wage employment Scheme”, which means that fund outlay is dependent only on the demand for work as raised by the State, and not its population size.

Mr. Pemmasani’s remarks provoked strong protests by the DMK members. At that point, Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan intervened, in an attempt to calm tempers. “Be it Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, the Modi government has never discriminated against any State. The pending MGNREGA dues, including material costs, will be released soon,” he said. 

He added that under the Congress-led UPA government from 2006-07 to 2013-14, only 111 crore person-days of work was generated under the scheme in West Bengal. Under the NDA government, on the other hand, 239 crore person-days have been generated in the State, and funds have been allocated to the tune of ₹54,515 crore. 

The Opposition was already agitated by Mr. Pemmasani’s replies to Mr. Haldar, the TMC MP, and Congress MP Adoor Prakash on pending dues to their respective States, West Bengal and Kerala. After the Minister’s remarks on Tamil Nadu, DMK and Trinamool Congress MPs entered the Well of the House, staging strong protests. Congress and Samajwadi Party MPs joined the protests too, rising from their seats in solidarity, with some of them standing near the Well.