Congress leader Sachin Pilot.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot on Monday opposed renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act and said the new Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) VB-G RAM G would “dismantle” the rural job scheme.
Pilot, who handled the panchayat raj portfolio in Rajasthan, said the new law would “disempower” gram panchayats and run the scheme centrally from New Delhi. “What was the need to change the scheme? People will not like this,” the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said. Noting that all civil society groups had condemned the new Act, Pilot said instead of strengthening it, the Central government weakened it by reducing funding to the state under the scheme.