Recalling the origins of the landmark employment scheme, Gandhi said the law was enacted two decades ago under the leadership of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, creating a dependable source of livelihood for crores of rural households. She emphasised that MGNREGA had evolved into a crucial safety net, offering wage employment and economic stability to families facing chronic poverty and job insecurity.
Gandhi alleged that over the past 11 years, the Modi government has consistently ignored the concerns of rural workers and unemployed villagers. She pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, MGNREGA played a vital role in sustaining poor households when other sources of income collapsed, reinforcing its importance as a social protection mechanism.
However, she accused the government of recently introducing major changes to the scheme’s structure. According to Gandhi, these moves include removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the programme and seeking to centralise control over employment provisions by shifting key decisions to Delhi, measures she claimed dilute the original spirit and intent of the law.
Stressing that MGNREGA was never meant to be a partisan initiative, Gandhi said the programme belongs to the nation and serves the collective interests of its people. She asserted that any attempt to weaken it undermines the constitutional commitment to social justice and economic security for rural citizens.
Concluding her remarks, Sonia Gandhi pledged that the Congress, along with its leaders and workers, would continue to resist efforts to erode MGNREGA. She said the party remains determined to safeguard the interests of farmers, labourers and landless rural poor, framing the issue as a broader struggle over the future of rural welfare and employment security in India.
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