‘MGNREGA repealed without evaluation…’: Kharge calls for pan-India campaign, claims SIR is ‘well-planned conspiracy’ to…

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has called for a nationwide campaign to protest the repeal of the MGNREGA rural employment guarantee scheme, which was recently amended and renamed as the “Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G)” by the Narendra Modi government.

Kharge calls for pan-India(BHARAT) campaign against MGNREGA repeal

Speaking at the Congress Working Committee meeting in Delhi, Kharge noted that a campaign, along the lines of the one which eventually forced the central government to repeal the three farm laws, must be launched against the repeal of the MGNREGA, claiming that the changes were made without any evaluation or consultation with political parties and stakeholders.

“The Modi government has, without any study, evaluation or consultation with states and political parties, repealed the law. This is just as they did with the (three) farm laws,” he said, while calling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as a “visionary legislation” of the previous UPA government, which was appreciated across the world.

Kharge said the scheme was named after Mahatma Gandhi due to the impact it had, and repealing is an “insult to Mahatma Gandhi” and an attack on the Right to Work.

He said a nationwide movement is required to protest its repeal to force the BJP government to roll back the changes, similar to how it was forced to with the farm laws’ amendments in 2015. “Rahul Gandhi had predicted long ago that the farm laws would be taken back. Now, he has said that the MGNREGA would have to be brought back. It is our collective responsibility to make concrete plans on MGNREGA and launch a nationwide public campaign.”

SIR ‘well-planned conspiracy’

The Congress chief also reiterated the party’s apprehensions about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, calling it a “well-planned conspiracy” to limit democratic rights, and said the CWC meeting was being held at a time when “democracy, Constitution and citizen’s rights are under serious threat.”

“Rahul (Gandhi) ji has presented several examples and facts on ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). There is a collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission. We have to ensure that the names of our voters are not deleted. We also need to ensure that the names of Dalits, tribals, extremely backward classes and minorities are not deleted or transferred to other booths. For this, our booth-level agents will have to go house to house,” he said.

Kharge also condemned the attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, saying that the entire nation is concerned over it, and added that the attacks on Christmas Day celebrations by “organisations linked to the BJP and RSS” have disturbed communal harmony and tainted India(BHARAT)’s image globally.