Congress workers stage hunger strike in Mangaluru demanding restoration of MGNREGA

Party to organise 5-km-long padayatra in all Assembly constituencies in the coming days as part of the

Mangaluru: Congress workers, under the aegis of the District Congress Committee (DCC), on Wednesday staged a hunger satyagraha in front of the Gandhi statue at Rajaji Park near Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall here, as part of the 'MGNREGA Bachao Sangram', to urge the Centre to restore the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Addressing the protest, DCC president K Harish Kumar said MGNREGA was a flagship programme of the UPA government that guaranteed 100 days of employment. “We 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 across the country,” he said.

As part of the agitation, the party will organise a 5-km-long padayatra in all Assembly constituencies in the coming days. Discussions have already been held with block Congress presidents and office-bearers regarding its implementation. From February 9 to 12, the DCC will organise a 100-km-long padayatra from Sullia to Mulki, he added.

Harish Kumar said the renaming of the MGNREGA and its replacement with the VB–G RAM G Act amounted to a direct attack on poor labourers. Under the MGNREGA, 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 alleged that the structure of the employment guarantee scheme had been altered, and that the new Act would impose a burden on State governments, as the VB–G RAM G scheme would be implemented on a 60:40 cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the States.

MLC Ivan D’Souza alleged that the BJP-led Union government had no concern for the poor, lacked social commitment, and was more interested in divisive politics. He also accused the Centre of passing the VB–G RAM G Act without consulting State governments. “Was any survey conducted by the NDA government to prove that MGNREGA was not beneficial to the people?” he asked.

The MLC said the MGNREGA had helped create assets at the gram panchayat level, enabling works related to roads, drains, and land levelling worth up to Rs 1 crore. Farmers had also planted saplings and levelled farmland using MGNREGA funds, he added.

Former Minister B Ramanath Rai said the new law had taken away the autonomy of gram panchayats.