West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday not only criticised the Union government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party for moving to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act with a new law but also announced that the West Bengal government’s own ‘Karmashree’ scheme would be renamed after the Father of the Nation.
“I feel ashamed that they have decided to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name from the NREGA programme. I, too, belong to this country. Are we now forgetting even the Father of the Nation?” Mamata said, addressing a business meet in Kolkata.
“We will now rename the Karmashree scheme of our state after Mahatma Gandhi, because if they cannot show respect to our national heroes, we will. We know how to honour our national icon Mahatma ji and others like Netaji, Tagore, Nazrul, Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel and Rajendra Prasad”.
The Lok Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which, if passed by the Rajya Sabha too, would replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).
The Trinamool Congress’ government of West Bengal launched the Karmashree scheme in 2024 to provide at least 50 days of wage employment to each job-card-holding household in a financial year.
The government, however, claims that it provided up to 75 days of wage employment.
“We have already created lots of workdays under 'Karmashree', which we are running with our own resources. Even if central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work. We are not beggars,” the chief minister and the TMC supremo said on Thursday.
The TMC earlier accused the Union government of “misleading” Parliament and claimed that the Centre owed West Bengal approximately Rs 52,000 crore under the flagship rural employment scheme, MGNREGA.
“Mahatma Gandhi believed that the dignity of labour is the foundation of true freedom. By renaming Karmashree in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, @mamataofficial aligns governance with that timeless principle. This step reflects a commitment to Gandhian values in practice, where work is respected, labour is honoured, and public policy remains people-centric,” the TMC posted on X, adding: “This is how history is respected, not rewritten.”