Only Congress takes decisions favouring marginalized: Bhagel
AAP like BJP fooled labourers with mere formality: Warring
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh/Gurdaspur/Hoshiarpur-
The Punjab Congress took the lead in launching the first phase of the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ announced by the party to seek the revival of rural employment guarantee scheme.
The ‘Sangram’ started with an impressive and massive rally at Gurdaspur, which was attended by senior party leaders and thousands of workers, labourers, farmers and marginalised sections of the society.
The party leaders reiterated and reaffirmed their resolve that the BJP government at the centre will be forced to revive the MGNREGA and withdraw the new law ‘VB GRAMG’, the same way it was forced to withdraw three controversial farm laws.
Speaking on the occasion, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and party general secretary in charge of Punjab, Bhupesh Bhagel said that it was the Congress only which has always taken decisions in favour of the working people and the marginalized sections of the society.
He pointed out, the MGNREGA which was lanched by the Congress government under the guidance of Ms Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh in 2005, was not only acknowledged within the country, but was praised and appreciated across the world as pro-poor scheme.
Bhagel said, after the scheme was scrapped by the Modi government, the Congress leadership including the president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi decided to be the voice of the labourers and marginalized sections who will be hit by this and who do not have any of their own organization which could fight for them.
The Congress general secretary did not spare the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab also, saying it was actually the B-team of the BJP. He pointed out, the AAP government had not even provided 10 percent of the share it was required to contribute to provide jobs for the rural poor.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had revealed his hostility towards the MGNREGA from day one and described it as a failure.
But he added, the fact is that the MGNREGA scheme was accepted and acknowledged as the best rural employment generation scheme across the world. He said it had provided dignity to the rural poor and had also helped in moving the rural economy as spending power of people had increased.
Taking a dig at the BJP for claiming to provide 125 workdays under the new scheme, he said, the total implementation of the MGNREGA when 100 days of work had to be provided, was just 48 percent. IN Punjab, he said, it was not even one percent under the AAP government. “When you cannot even provide 50 work days, how can anyone believe you when you say that you will be guaranteeing 125 work days?” he asked the BJP.
Asserting that the AAP was no different from the BJP, Warring said, it had only resorted to show of optics by holding a Vidhan Sabha session and passing resolution against the scrapping of the MGNREGA. “What did it achieve on the ground?” he asked, while observing that the AAP government should have made at least Rs 4000 crore announcement to provide work to the rural poor in Punjab of its own resources.
“But what can we expect of the government that has put additional debt burden on the state and taken the overall debt to Rs 4.5 lakh crores”, he pointed out, while adding that the AAP government had been doing only lip service.
Addressing the rally, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa said that the BJP government at the centre was being quite hostile towards Punjab. He pointed out, it had withheld Rs 9000 crore rural development fund. Now with the scrapping of the MGNREGA, the rural poor will be further hit, he added.
Bajwa lashed out at the AAP government for its complete failure on all fronts. He said the law and order had completely collapsed and the government was clueless.
He alleged that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had sold his soul to the Delhi leadership and he was just a mask while in reality the government was being run by Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain.
Former Deputy Chief Minister and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurdaspur MLA Bharindermeet Singh Pahara also spoke on the occasion.
Among those present included Ravinder Dalvi, Suraj Thakur, Dr Amar Singh MP, Pargat Singh MLA, Aruna Chaudhry Dy CLP, Naresh Puri MLA , Rana Gurjit Singh, Tript Rajinder Singh MLA, Sukhpal Singh Khehra MLA, Hardev Singh Laddi, Sukhwinder Kotli MLA, AmIt Vij EX MLA, Jasbir Singh Dimpa EX MP, Dr Raj Kumar EX MLA, Sunil Dutti EX MLA, Harpartap Singh Ajanala EX MLA, Joginder Pal Bhoa Ex MLA, Santokh Singh Bhalaipur EX MLA, Indu Bala Ex MLA, Arun Dogra, Pawan Adhia, Daljit Singh Gilzian, Sunder Sham Arora, Panna Lal Bhatia DCC president Pathankot, Saurabh Mithu Madaan DCC Amritsar, PYC President Mohit Mohindra, NSUI President Isherpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh Kahlon, Narinder Singh Sandhu, Teena Chaudhary and others.