<p>Mangaluru: District-in-Charge Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao accused the Central government of bulldozing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). He said the Centre has failed to clarify how the newly enacted Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB–G RAM G) will be implemented.</p><p>Coming down heavily on the NDA-led government at the Centre, the minister said there has been no clarity on the impact of restructuring the employment generation scheme. He pointed out that 53 per cent of labourers under MGNREGS are women. Karnataka has around 73.18 lakh active job cards, of which 36.7 lakh belong to women. Despite this, the BJP in Karnataka has remained silent and is supporting the VB–G RAM G Act, he alleged.</p>.Court issues notices to Priyank Kharge, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Nalapad over comments on RSS.<p>Instead of strengthening the employment guarantee scheme, the BJP has weakened it completely. The new Act, he said, will place an additional burden on state governments, as 40 per cent of the funds will have to be borne by the states. “There is no guarantee left in the employment scheme,” he said. He alleged that the restructuring of MGNREGS was undertaken by the Centre without consulting state governments or stakeholders. It is no longer a employment guarantee scheme but will become another centrally sponsored scheme, he added.</p><p>Rao raised concern over replacement of Mahatma Gandhi's name with "Ram" in the new scheme. "They wanted to remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi while through the new law," he said.</p><p>Under MGNREGS, gram panchayats were implementing works worth about Rs 1 crore annually. However, the new Act has removed safeguards for the economic autonomy of gram panchayats, he alleged.</p><p>The BJP, he said, is projecting only an increase in man-days under the new Act. Under MGNREGS, 100 per cent of wage payments were funded by the Centre, while 25 per cent of the material component was borne by the state and the remaining administrative and other expenses were borne by the Centre. Questioning the new funding pattern, he asked whether the Centre was bankrupt to demand that states bear 40 per cent of the cost under the VB–G RAM G Act.</p><p>Earlier, gram sabhas decided the nature of works to be taken up under MGNREGS. Now, he said, the Centre will decide the type of works and unilaterally include permissible works for each gram panchayat. The new Act has taken away the powers of gram panchayats and is against decentralisation, he alleged.</p><p>The minister said Dakshina Kannada district has about 50,000 active job card holders. In 2022–23, works worth Rs 76 crore were implemented under MGNREGS; in 2023–24, Rs 65 crore; and in 2024–25, works worth Rs 64 crore were taken up. He said the Congress would intensify its protests and demand the restoration of MGNREGS across the country.</p>
<p>Mangaluru: District-in-Charge Minister and Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao accused the Central government of bulldozing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). He said the Centre has failed to clarify how the newly enacted Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB–G RAM G) will be implemented.</p><p>Coming down heavily on the NDA-led government at the Centre, the minister said there has been no clarity on the impact of restructuring the employment generation scheme. He pointed out that 53 per cent of labourers under MGNREGS are women. Karnataka has around 73.18 lakh active job cards, of which 36.7 lakh belong to women. Despite this, the BJP in Karnataka has remained silent and is supporting the VB–G RAM G Act, he alleged.</p>.Court issues notices to Priyank Kharge, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Nalapad over comments on RSS.<p>Instead of strengthening the employment guarantee scheme, the BJP has weakened it completely. The new Act, he said, will place an additional burden on state governments, as 40 per cent of the funds will have to be borne by the states. “There is no guarantee left in the employment scheme,” he said. He alleged that the restructuring of MGNREGS was undertaken by the Centre without consulting state governments or stakeholders. It is no longer a employment guarantee scheme but will become another centrally sponsored scheme, he added.</p><p>Rao raised concern over replacement of Mahatma Gandhi's name with "Ram" in the new scheme. "They wanted to remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi while through the new law," he said.</p><p>Under MGNREGS, gram panchayats were implementing works worth about Rs 1 crore annually. However, the new Act has removed safeguards for the economic autonomy of gram panchayats, he alleged.</p><p>The BJP, he said, is projecting only an increase in man-days under the new Act. Under MGNREGS, 100 per cent of wage payments were funded by the Centre, while 25 per cent of the material component was borne by the state and the remaining administrative and other expenses were borne by the Centre. Questioning the new funding pattern, he asked whether the Centre was bankrupt to demand that states bear 40 per cent of the cost under the VB–G RAM G Act.</p><p>Earlier, gram sabhas decided the nature of works to be taken up under MGNREGS. Now, he said, the Centre will decide the type of works and unilaterally include permissible works for each gram panchayat. The new Act has taken away the powers of gram panchayats and is against decentralisation, he alleged.</p><p>The minister said Dakshina Kannada district has about 50,000 active job card holders. In 2022–23, works worth Rs 76 crore were implemented under MGNREGS; in 2023–24, Rs 65 crore; and in 2024–25, works worth Rs 64 crore were taken up. He said the Congress would intensify its protests and demand the restoration of MGNREGS across the country.</p>