MGNREGA Bachao Sangram.
Credit: PTI
Mangaluru: MLC Ivan D’Souza said the Congress in Dakshina Kannada will organise an MGNREGA Bachao Sangram across the district to oppose the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB–G RAM G) and demand its withdrawal and the restoration of MGNREGA.
As part of the agitation, the party will organise a padayatra and a hunger strike, he told mediapersons on Friday. The movement aims to oppose what he termed the Centre’s assault on the world’s largest welfare programme, MGNREGA.
A hunger strike will be held in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue near the Town Hall in Mangaluru on January 21, from 9 am to 5 pm. In addition, a 100-km padayatra will be undertaken from Sullia to Mulki between February 9 and 12. At least four public meetings will be held each day during the padayatra. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar are expected to participate in one of the public meetings, he said.
The MLC said the renaming of MGNREGA and its replacement with the VB–G RAM G Act amounted to a direct attack on poor workers and the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired the scheme. Under MGNREGA, he said, workers’ had a legal guarantee of at least 100 days of employment per year, and gram panchayats had the authority to decide the nature of works to be taken up.
However, the new law removes this right, as the Centre will decide the type of works to be implemented in villages, he alleged, adding that workers no longer have any legal guarantee of employment.
He further alleged that the BJP-led Union government had no concern for the poor, lacked social commitment, and was more interested in divisive politics while dismantling pro-people programmes.
The MLC also accused the Centre of passing the VB–G RAM G Act without consulting state governments. He claimed that at least six states have already expressed their inability to contribute 40% of the funds required for implementing the scheme and alleged that the BJP was attempting to raise emotional issues through the renaming of the programme.