India, March 28 -- Local economy hangs by a thread as residents desperately demand revival of the rural employment scheme

Villagers in Murshidabad district in West Bengal once had no major liabilities or debts to repay in their lives. But the absence of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is casting a long shadow on their lives now. The agrarian populace is now grappling with financial distress, exacerbating the already precarious socio-economic conditions prevalent in the region.

The rural employment scheme, formerly a vital support system for millions in the state, ground to a halt approximately two years ago over a funding dispute between the central and state governments. The central government st...