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Kerala passes resolution to restore MGNREGA
The Kerala Assembly urged the Union government to revoke the VB-GRAM-G Act and restore MGNREGA, joining other southern states in opposition.
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday demanded that the Union government revoke the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAM-G) Act and restore the earlier version of the rural jobs scheme MGNREGA, joining a clutch of southern states including Telangana and Karnataka.
The House passed a resolution in this regard moved by parliamentary affairs minister MB Rajesh amid the din over the protests by the UDF over the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Karnataka and Telangana, both Congress-ruled states, along with Tamil Nadu, where the DMK-led alliance is in power, have recently passed resolutions against the VB-G RAM-G Act.
Unlike the MGNREGA scheme, which was a fully centrally-sponsored scheme, the new version of the jobs scheme requires states to commit to 40% of the expense, a stipulation that non-BJP state governments have opposed.
Rajesh, the minister, said that the new Act will create a huge financial burden on the States and that it was devoid of the rights-based provisions which were the essence of the earlier law.
The scheme was ‘anti-people’ and ‘deprives them of their right to work’, the minister added.
