THE Congress will launch a nationwide campaign against the repeal of the UPA-era rural employment legislation MGNREGA on January 5, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws which eventually forced the Narendra Modi Government to rollback its decision, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said. At a press conference here on Saturday after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Kharge said the party will lead the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ across the country.

 

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 law has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers. He said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was not just a scheme, but the ‘Right to Work’ given by the Constitution. “People are angry over the repeal of MGNREGA. The Government will have to face the consequences,” he said. “At the CWC meeting, we took an oath that a campaign would be launched with MGNREGA as its focal point. The Congress would take the lead and start a “MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan” from January 5,” Kharge said.

 

He said party leaders took an oath of protecting MGNREGA at any cost. “We will fight unitedly for the rights of rural labourers to dignity, employment, wages and timely payment and will protect the rights of demand-based employment and gram sabha,” he said. On the SIR exercise, the Congress leader said it is a serious issue, and “a well-planned conspiracy” to limit people’s democratic rights. Kharge said the Congress would democratically oppose the “conspiracy” to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s name from MGNREGA and to “convert the rights of workers into charity”. Referring to the cost-sharing clause between the Centre and state governments under the VB-G RAM G Act, the Congress chief said states will have an additional expenditure burden and termed it a one-sided decision taken without consultation.

 

“This law has been brought to crush the poor. We will fight against it on the streets and in Parliament,” he said. Earlier, speaking at the CWC meeting, Kharge said repealing MGNREGA is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi. The Congress chief cited precedents, including the 2015 amendments to India’s land acquisition law that were effectively rolled back. He also quoted the three farm laws, which were first brought in as ordinances and then passed in Parliament amid opposition protests, but had to be repealed following the 2020-21 farmers’ protests.