Struggle will continue until MGNREGA is restored: CM Siddaramaiah as K’taka Cong submits memorandum to Guv
Bengaluru: A delegation of the ruling Congress party in Karnataka, comprising of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, AICC General Secretary and Karnataka Incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala and other prominent leaders met Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum demanding restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The party is objecting to the enactment of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G).
Earlier, speaking at a massive protest and ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ programme organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at Freedom Park in Bengaluru as part of the ‘MNREGA Bachao Sangram’, CM Siddaramaiah said the Congress party was opposing the anti-people policies of the central government and that the agitation would continue until the VB-G RAM G scheme was withdrawn and MGNREGA was fully restored.
Siddaramaiah said the BJP had recently scrapped the MGNREGA with malicious intent and replaced it with the VB-G RAM G scheme.
The Chief Minister said the MGNREGA Act was implemented in 2005 when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.
“The Right to Food, Right to Work, Right to Education, Right to Information and Forest Rights Act were all people-centric laws brought in during Congress governments. The Congress has always cared for women, Dalits, Backward Classes, minorities and small farmers,” he said.
He claimed that the BJP was destroying these people-oriented schemes and depriving rural populations of employment. “Around 53 per cent of MGNREGA workers were women, 28 per cent belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and nearly five lakh persons with disabilities were engaged as wage labourers. MGNREGA ensured employment for all,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said, “Under MGNREGA, women, Dalits, backward classes, minorities and small farmers could seek work on any day of the year. Earlier, gram sabhas and gram panchayats decided the nature of works. Now, instead of local rural bodies, the work of the rural poor is being decided in Delhi.”
He said not all gram panchayats were able to provide work opportunities to wage labourers. “Under MGNREGA, workers were guaranteed 100 days of employment. The right to work is a constitutional right of the poor, but this has been taken away through VB Gram Ji. Earlier, the Centre bore the entire expenditure under MGNREGA. Now, funding has been stopped, and under the new law, states must bear 40 per cent of the cost while the Centre contributes only 60 per cent,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said several states were suffering due to such anti-people policies of the Centre.
“Therefore, our government and the Congress party are opposing these policies. People across the country must continue this struggle until this law is repealed and MGNREGA is restored. This time, farmers, workers and women will join the agitation in large numbers,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the VB-G RAM G law did not protect the rights of the poor and that the RSS was behind the move. “Their conspiracy is to prevent the poor from becoming empowered and to keep them as servants. Permanently institutionalising inequality in society is the RSS’ agenda,” he alleged.
Referring to Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Siddaramaiah said economic and social freedom were essential to establish equality in the country.
Padayatras would be organised across all districts, and people should support the Congress’ cause. “In the next budget, an announcement will be made to name the offices of 6,000 gram panchayats after Mahatma Gandhi,” the Chief Minister said.