Congress blasts Modi govt for scrapping MGNREGA; Gross injustice with poor people of India: Warring
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh-
The Congress today blasted the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government at the centre for scrapping the rights based Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, saying it had snatched the legal right and guarantee of the poor and the marginalised people of the country.
Addressing a press conference here today, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and the Chairperson of the AICC Department of Social Media and Digital Platforms Ms Supriya Shrinate said that it was a systematic attack on the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the backwards and the women of the country.
Warring said that Prime Minister Modi had deep aversion towards the MGNREGA from day one and would often refer to it scornfully. He particularly referred to increasing the state allocation from ten percent to 40 percent under the new law VBGRAMG, which has replaced the MGNREGA.
He said, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab had already failed in implementing the MGNREGA even when it was supposed to provide just ten percent matching grant. He asked, how can it provide a 40 percent matching grant.
Referring to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s announcement of convening a special session of the Punjab assembly on the issue, Warring hoped that he (the CM) would come up with some positive and constructive proposal as to how to counter the central government.
Speaking on the issue Ms Supriya Shrinate described it as an attack by Prime Minister Mod on the marginalized sections of the society who have been exploited for generations like the Dalits, the tribals, the backwards and the women who, she said, got maximum work under the MGNREGA scheme.
She pointed out, it was the demand based right where every person could demand 100 days’ work as a matter of right. She said the MGNREGA had a provision that if the government could not provide the work to the person, s/he would be compensated financially.
The senior Congress leader maintained that the MGNREGA had transformed the rural economy, helped in poverty alleviation in rural areas by reducing rural poverty by 26 percent and improving rural employment. She said, the MGNREA had served as a lifeline for the country’s rural poor during the COVID pandemic when the BJP government had completely failed everyone.
Asserting that the women will be the worst hit, she said, they got about 50 percent work under MGNREGA.
Ms Shrinate noted that the Modi government had committed a great sin by removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the Act. She said, Gandhi’s name was not merely on the act, but he lived in the soul of India.
She also took strong exception to the government trying to reduce the name of Lord Ram, to an acronym for three different words. She said, this proves the hypocrisy of those who are exploiting religion for their own benefit.
The senior Congress leader said while the MGNREGA was passed unanimously in the parliament in 2005 with support of all the parties including the BJP, it was scrapped without taking the opposition parties or the stakeholders into confidence. She said, like the three black farm laws, the new law VB G RAMG was also brought in without any consultations.
Asserting that the new law will lead to over-centralisation, she said, it will also put extra financial burden on the states as they will now have to provide 40 percent share instead of 10 percent under MGNREGA.
She also ridiculed the claims of the BJP government that under new law there will be a guarantee of 125 days instead of 100 when the average workdays provided under BJP rule were only 42 per year.