Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "single-handedly destroying" MGNREGA without consulting his Cabinet or the states and without studying the matter, terming it an attack on the democratic structure that will ruin the rural economy.
Addressing a press conference after the crucial CWC meeting, he targeted the BJP-led NDA government over the VB-G RAM G Act, alleging that the PM carried out a devastating attack on states and the poor, "much like demonetisation".
He said the Congress has vowed that it would resist the government's action and expressed confidence that the entire opposition would be aligned with it.
"The prime minister single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without asking his Cabinet, and without studying the matter," the former Congress chief said.
"We are going to resist it, we are going to fight it, and I am confident that the entire opposition will stand united against this action," he said, referring to the Congress' 'MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan' that it plans to launch nationwide on January 5.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi later said, "There is only one purpose behind the end of MGNREGA -- to erase the right to employment for the poor, to steal economic and political power from the states, and to hand over that money to billionaire friends."
{{/usCountry}}In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi later said, "There is only one purpose behind the end of MGNREGA -- to erase the right to employment for the poor, to steal economic and political power from the states, and to hand over that money to billionaire friends."
{{/usCountry}}"The entire country will bear the cost of the whims of the 'lone ranger' Prime Minister. Jobs will end, and the rural economy will collapse. When villages weaken, the country will weaken," he also said.
Claiming that the UPA-era MGNREGA was not just a work programme, but a development and conceptual framework appreciated around the world, Gandhi claimed that its repeal was an attack on a rights-based approach and on the country's federal structure.
"It is a devastating attack on states and the poor people, carried out by the prime minister single-handedly, much like demonetisation. The PM single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without asking his Cabinet, without studying the matter," he said at the press conference.
"The MGNREGA, apart from being a rights-based programme, also strengthened our panchayats. It allowed political action in the panchayats, it injected money into the panchayats, and it allowed the decision-making power at the panchayat level," Gandhi explained.
He termed the VB-G RAM G legislation on rural employment an "attack on the democratic structure, on the third tier of government and our basic architecture of our country".
"This is an attack on the states of India because they are simply taking away money that belongs to the states and decision-making power that belongs to the states. It is an attack on the infrastructure of the states because MGNREGA was used to build infrastructure," Gandhi claimed.
The Congress leader linked the decision to scrap MGNREGA to the decimation of Indian labour, saying that MGNREGA guaranteed a minimum floor below which Indian labour could not fall.
"It is going to cause tremendous pain to the weaker sections, to Adivasis, to Dalits, to OBCs, to poor general castes, and to minorities. At the same time, it is going to benefit Mr Adani in full measure. That is the purpose of this exercise: to take money away from poor people and hand it to people like Mr Adani," Gandhi alleged.
The VB-G RAM G Bill, replacing the 20-year-old MGNREGA, was passed in Parliament during the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament amid vociferous protests by the opposition. The new act has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.