Congress MP Jairam Ramesh announced a nationwide agitation against the abolition of MGNREGA, replaced by the VB-G RAM-G Bill. He detailed the scheme’s history and accused the BJP of altering its fundamental character and acting on ideological bias.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, on Monday, shared the background of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), now reformed to Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgaar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill (VB-G RAM-G), in a post on the social media platform X and announced a public agitation campaign by Congress to repeal the abolition of MGNREGA.
Congress Outlines Scheme’s History
Sharing the timeline of how Congress laid the foundation stone of the 2-decade-old act, Ramesh wrote, “In the 1970s, following a severe drought, the Congress Govt in Maharashtra under the leadership of V.P. Naik and inspiration of V. S. Page introduced the pioneering Employment Guarantee Scheme to deal with rural distress. Subsequently, in the early 1980s, two new schemes were announced by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi – the National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and the Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP).”
Follwing which, Ramesha writes, in the early 1990s, an Employment Assurance Scheme in 100 poorest districts was announced by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, who also happened to be Minister of Rural Development.
Pledge for a Nationwide Guarantee
He added that the Congress, in its Lok Sabha election manifesto released in late March 2004, pledged to enact a new law to guarantee employment for 100 days a year to rural families. This was two years after Congress Chief Ministers met in April 2002 to review all schemes and programmes related to rural employment. “This pledge formed part of the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA that was released in May 2004,” Jairam Ramesh writes. Further in his post, he underscored the pivotal role of late ex-Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi, in the formation of MGNREGA.
‘Fundamental Character Changed’: Ramesh Announces Action Plan
The Congress MLA made the post in response to Sonia Gandhi’s Monday editorial in The Hindu, titled “The Bulldozed Demolition of MGNREGA.” On Sunday, Jairam Ramesh said the fundamental character of MGNREGA has been changed, announcing that the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for December 27 will finalise an action plan for a nationwide movement. VB-G-RAM-G Bill passed in Parliament.
Speaking to ANI, Ramesh said the new legislation has taken away employment opportunities from rural, deprived and exploited sections of society. “The fundamental character of MGNREGA has been changed; the basic structure of the scheme has been altered. The employment that was being provided to rural, deprived, and exploited people has been taken away,” he said.
Ramesh further accused the BJP of acting out of ideological bias. “They hate Mahatma Gandhi’s name, and they hate the laws enacted during the Congress regime. I don’t understand why they rushed this through,” he said, adding that the law was enacted without consultations with state governments. (ANI)
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