New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday accused the Centre of having run a “bulldozer” over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and called upon people to join its nationwide campaign, “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram”, to restore the constitutional rights to work, wages and accountability.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the movement would reach 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and crores of people across the country.
“The government has run a bulldozer over the MGNREGA scheme, which has become the lifeline for crores of people in India. This nationwide struggle is against that, for the restoration of the constitutional rights to work, to wages and to accountability,” Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X, urging people to join the campaign.
Ramesh also shared a link — https://www.mgnregabachao.in — through which people can join the movement and sign a petition addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.
The petition strongly protests what the party described as recent changes that weaken the core promise of guaranteed employment and rural empowerment. “MGNREGA is a constitutional Right to Work for crores of families and must not be diluted,” it said, demanding restoration of guaranteed work, fixing the minimum wage at Rs 400 per day, and strengthening the authority of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
In a communication to AICC general secretaries, state in-charges and other organisational functionaries, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal shared slogans, campaign instructions for the “Kaam Maango Abhiyan”, and a video message from Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on MGNREGA. “It is to be played for all MGNREGA workers during village-level activities,” Venugopal said in his January 12 note.
Venugopal also said a letter jointly signed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi would be circulated soon and translated into regional languages for mass distribution among gram panchayat heads, MGNREGA mates, Rozgar Sahayaks, workers and former pradhans.
Under the Kaam Maango Abhiyan, party functionaries have been asked to mobilise job card holders to collectively seek employment from gram panchayats. If work is not provided within 15 days, workers have been advised to apply for unemployment allowance at the block or prakhand level, with proper documentation and receipts.
The Congress has announced that the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram will run from January 10 to February 25, demanding withdrawal of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB G-RAM-G) Act and restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law guaranteeing employment and empowering panchayats.
The VB G-RAM-G Bill was passed during Parliament’s winter session and later received presidential assent. The Congress has formed a coordination committee to oversee the campaign, with Ajay Maken as convenor and senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, Sandeep Dikshit and Priyank Kharge as members.
Category: Breaking News
SEO Tags: #swadesi, #News,Govt Has Run Bulldozer Over MGNREGA, Says Congress; Launches Nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’