Justice B. Devanand of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday ruled that the petitioners who challenged the non-clearance of bills submitted by them for works executed prior to 2019 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) were entitled to interest at the rate of 12% payable within four weeks of receipt of the present order.
Ordering that the interest should be computed from the date of expiry of one month from the date of submission of the bills till the date of final payments, Justice Devanand observed that though the MGNREG Act, 2005 provided for compensation to wage seekers at the rate of 0.05% of the unpaid wages per day of delay beyond the sixteenth day of closure of muster rolls (if the wages are not paid within fifteen days), Parliament did not anticipate the prevalent situation insofar as the delays in making payments for material cost of the scheme including payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers.
It was, therefore, hoped that the Central government took appropriate steps to incorporate relevant provisions under the said Act to grant compensation for the delay in payment to the material costs of the scheme including payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers to ensure better implementation of the scheme in future in the interest of the public at large.
Justice Devanand further said there were no enquiries pending and that the Central government had released its 75% share of funds, but the petitioners did not receive payments. As such, it was appropriate and reasonable to compensate the petitioners for the loss caused to them by the State government.
The State government had been unlawfully enjoying the funds released by the Centre without making payments to the petitioners, who were legitimately entitled for payments and it amounted to “unjust enrichment”, which was against public interest, the Judge added.
