Congress has launched a nationwide campaign reportedly to oppose the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The campaign aims at large-scale mobilizations across states and calls for resolutions from over 2.5 lakh gram sabhas. As per the reports, the congress will initiate statewide protests, flagging off on Saturday, in several states.
As per the testimonies of the party leaders, the center has led to the weakening and fragility of the rural jobs guarantee scheme due to the reduction in the powers of gram panchayats, including their rights to decide what work should be done and who should acquire jobs.
On January 10, the party will hold district-level press conferences across Uttarakhand to highlight the impact of the new framework and contrast it with the employment guarantees under MNREGA. Congress leaders claim the changes will harm rural livelihoods and weaken decentralized governance.
Uttarakhand
Meanwhile, the party in Uttarakhand has made the announcement of a statewide anger against the replacement of MNREGA with the Viksit Bharat G Ram G Rural Act.
Bihar
The party in Bihar will introduce a ‘Save MNREGA’ campaign, which aims to target the Modi government’s anti-MNREGA policies. In this campaign, the leaders of the party will go village to village to raise awareness among people.
According to Congress insiders, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has directed all state units to take the agitation deep into rural areas. A key part of the campaign is to ensure that more than 2.5 lakh gram sabhas across the country pass resolutions demanding the restoration of MNREGA’s original provisions.
