A day ago, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge pledged to undertake a pan-India protest against the Centre’s “dictatorial approach” to push through the G RAM G bill, for replacing MGNREGA.
Rahul Gandhi described MGNREGA as the most successful poverty alleviation programme, and said that he and his party will not let the Modi government destroy the rural poor’s last line of defence.
“We will stand with workers, panchayats, and states to defeat this move and build a nationwide front to ensure this law is withdrawn,” he said in a hard-hitting post.
Taking exception to the “hurried” passage of the G RAM G bill through both the Houses, he claimed that the Modi government demolished twenty years of MNREGA in just one day and also questioned the “anti-state and anti-village" design of the new scheme, which is set to replace the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The G RAM G bill, since its introduction in Parliament, has triggered a war of words between the treasury and opposition benches, with the latter accusing the government of erasing the legacy of the Father of the Nation. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday despite intense uproar by the Opposition and was subsequently cleared by the Rajya Sabha after a discussion that went on till around 1 a.m. Friday.
Gandhi, refusing to buy the Centre’s claim that G RAM G was an extension of MGNREGA, took to X on Friday and tore into the government through a detailed post.
“VB–G RAM G isn’t a “revamp” of MGNREGA. It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is anti-state and anti-village by design,” he said.
Congress leader said that by capping work and building in more ways to deny it, the VB-G RAM G will only weaken the one instrument which the rural poor had.
“We saw what MGNREGA meant during COVID. When the economy shut down and livelihoods collapsed, it kept crores from falling into hunger and debt,” he stated.
Further, counting its benefits for poor households, including women, he said that they were among the biggest beneficiaries of MGNREGA.
He added that women have contributed more than half the person-days, year after year, and it's they and Dalits, Adivasis, landless workers and the poorest OBC communities who will bear the brunt of it.
He also hit out at the Modi government for not paying heed to the opposition’s reservations over the contentious bill and accused the Centre of forcing it through the House.
“This law was bulldozed through Parliament without proper scrutiny. The opposition demand to send the bill to a Standing Committee was rejected. A law that rewires the rural social contract, affecting crores of workers should never be rammed through without serious committee scrutiny, expert consultation, and public hearings,” he remarked.
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