Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slams Centre’s decision to replace MGNREGA

Belagavi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre’s decision to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with other legislations was reflective of its ‘hatred’ towards both Gandhiji and the poor.

The CM’s remarks follow the Centre’s decision to replace MGNREGA with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025.

In a statement released to the media, Siddaramaiah underscored the role that MGNREGS had played in the fight against unemployment and poverty. “While MGNREGS offered a genuine guarantee of employment, the new legislation proposed by the Modi government does away with this guarantee, placing the onus on the whims of political leaders. This will lead to more caste-based discrimination and create social inequality,” the CM said.

Siddaramaiah also took exception to the Centre’s decision to share the financial burden for the scheme with the states. The new legislation stipulates that, while the Centre will foot 60% of the expenditure for the scheme, the states will have to contribute the rest. This was yet another illustration of the Modi-led government’s ‘anti-federal’ attitude, the CM said.

Siddaramaiah said that the new legislation did not assure people of employment in their hometown, which would compel them to migrate to other places in search of jobs. Expressing outrage at the Centre’s decision to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the act, Siddaramaiah said, “From the Parivar that seeks to glorify Gandhi’s assassin Godse, what else can you really expect?”