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Congress observes fast to protest against new rural job guarantee law
Congress held a protest against changes to rural job laws, claiming it undermines employment rights and local governance, while BJP dismissed it as politically motivated.
As a part of nationwide protest against change in rural job guarantee law brought by the Centre, the state unit of Congress party, on Sunday, observed a day-long fast at Bapu Vatika under the leadership of party state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh.
Several senior leaders of the party including state working president Bandhu Tirkey and former state congress committee president Rajesh Thakur besides marketing board chairman Ravindra Singh, minority commission members Shamsher Alam and Jyoti Singh Matharu, and others were present in the programme.
Raising serious questions about the new law, Mahto said the right to employment would no longer be a right, but depend on the will of the government. He said panchayats would be reduced to clerks and many panchayats won’t receive funds, causing disruption in local planning.
“Every year, the old rural job guarantee law, MGNREGA, provided a safety net to 5 to 6 crore rural families during times of crisis, but with the new law, all power will be concentrated with the Centre. Panchayats will be reduced to mere clerks, and work will only be available in those panchayats that the Centre notifies. Many panchayats will not receive funds, which will disrupt local planning and violate the spirit of the 73rd constitutional amendment,” Mahto said.
Mahto said there was no provision of inflation-linked wages in the new law.
“Under the new law, the budget limit and standard allocation in the scheme will be predetermined, due to which work will stop when the funds run out. MNREGA used to provide inflation-linked notified wages; this provision has been removed in the new law,” Mahto said.
The party state chief Mahto said the new law enabled the government to legally refuse to provide work.
“60 days of work will not be available during the peak agricultural season, when the villages face the most hardship,” Mahto said.
Health minister Irfan Ansari expressed his willingness to continue to fight to fulfill the dream of Mahatma Gandhi. “We are ready to fight this battle to the end. We will not allow Gandhi’s dreams to be crushed in Gandhi’s country,” he said.
BJP state spokesperson Ajay Sah in response said it was a politically motivated exercise aimed at misleading the public. He said reforms introduced in the old rural job guarantee law were pro-poor, transparency-driven and focused on effective delivery.
“The so-called “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” organised by the Congress is a politically motivated exercise aimed at misleading the public and hiding the party’s own failures. The BJP clarifies that the reforms introduced by the Centre in MGNREGA are pro-poor, transparency-driven and focused on effective delivery, not against workers or rural India,” Sah said.
Sah said it was BJP which reduced corruption in MGNREGA implementation.
“During the UPA regime, MNREGA became a hub of corruption, fake job cards and fund leakages. The BJP government has introduced DBT, Aadhaar-based payments and digital monitoring to ensure that wages reach genuine beneficiaries directly, eliminating middlemen and misuse,” Sah said.
Sah alleged Congress of dragging the name of Mahatma Gandhi to create confusion.
“Congress is trying to create emotional confusion by dragging Mahatma Gandhi’s name into the debate. The BJP is committed to implementing Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant villages and dignity of labour in practice, rather than merely using his name for political gain,” Sah said.
