Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said she was concerned about the Centre reducing the budget for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, scheme, PTI reported.

The scheme ensures 100 days of guaranteed wage employment of unskilled manual work to at least one adult member of every household in rural areas. The Centre allocated only Rs 73,000 crore for MGNREGA in the Budget for 2022-’23.

A total of Rs 3,358.14 crore is pending as wages to workers under the scheme, the Centre had told the Rajya Sabha on February 3.

Gandhi on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that the allocation is 35% lesser as compared to 2020, even when employment is on the rise.

“When the budget is slashed, there is a delay in payment of the workers, who have been considered as ‘first labour’ by the Supreme Court,” said Gandhi.

She added that MGNREGA, which was mocked by some persons, had provided timely help to crores of poor families.

“Still, constant cuts are being made in the budgetary allocation for the scheme.” The senior Congress leader asked for the workers to be paid within 15 days, and compensation for any further delay in payment.

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh said that Gandhi’s statement is “far from the truth,” according to PTI.

“The budgetary allocation for MGNREGA in 2013-14 [UPA years] was Rs 33,000 crore, whereas under Prime Minister Narendra Modi it has reached Rs 1.12 lakh crore,” said Singh. “No need to show us the mirror.”

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the scheme was allegedly faced with most corruption during the Congress tenure, which the Modi government cleaned up, reported PTI.