Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Modi government of pursuing the same objectives in repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as it did while introducing the now-repealed farm laws, and called upon poor people across the country to unite against the new Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act.
Addressing the National MGNREGA Workers’ Convention organised by the Rachnatmak Congress, Gandhi said MGNREGA was conceived as a rights-based programme to empower the poor by guaranteeing employment through the Panchayati Raj system.
“The core idea of MGNREGA was rights — the right to work for the poor. The scheme ensured that anyone in need of work could demand it, and it was implemented through the third tier of democracy. The Modi government wants to destroy this concept of rights,” Gandhi said.
Drawing parallels with the farm laws, the former Congress president said farmers were able to force the repeal of the legislation only after sustained and united pressure on the government. “They brought three black farm laws, but farmers fought unitedly and forced their withdrawal. Today, the same is being done to workers through this new law,” he said.
Gandhi alleged that under the VB-G RAM G Act, decision-making powers over work allocation and funding would be centralised, with BJP-ruled states receiving preferential treatment. He further claimed that benefits that earlier reached workers directly would now flow to contractors and the bureaucracy.
“They want assets concentrated in a few hands so that poor people remain dependent on Adani and Ambani. This is their model of India — an India where one king decides everything,” Gandhi charged.
At one point during his address, Gandhi said he could not recall the name of the new law and asked the gathering to remind him, drawing a response from the audience.
Workers from across the country attended the convention and participated in a symbolic act by bringing soil from their work sites, which was placed in saplings in the presence of Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Congress launched its ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, a 45-day nationwide campaign, on January 10 to oppose the repeal of the UPA-era employment guarantee scheme. The party is demanding the withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and the restoration of MGNREGA in its original form as a rights-based law, with guaranteed employment and strengthened authority of panchayats.
