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Sonia Gandhi
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the Modi government of “bulldozing” the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and vowed that the “black law” seeking to repeal it would be opposed by lakhs of Congress workers across India.
In a video message, Gandhi said the government’s move to weaken MGNREGA was an attack on the livelihoods of crores of farmers, labourers, and landless workers nationwide. She alleged that over the past 11 years, the Centre had largely ignored the interests of rural communities.
Recalling the enactment of MGNREGA 20 years ago under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gandhi described it as a “revolutionary step” that provided employment and legal rights to the poorest sections of society while empowering gram panchayats and curbing migration in search of work. She said the law represented a concrete step towards Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj.
Gandhi criticised the government for recently changing the form and structure of MGNREGA without consultation or deliberation, including removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme. She added that the new law centralises decisions on employment allocation in Delhi, far removed from the realities on the ground.
Emphasising the Congress party’s historical role in bringing MGNREGA to life, she stated that the scheme was never a party-specific initiative but a matter of national interest. “By weakening this law, the Modi government has attacked the interests of rural workers across the country. We are ready to counter this attack,” Gandhi said, pledging support from Congress leaders and workers.
The remarks come after Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill, which aims to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA. The bill, guaranteeing 125 days of rural wage employment annually, faced strong opposition protests. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the legislation, saying it was necessary to address shortcomings in the existing scheme.
Opposition parties have voiced concerns over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name and the potential financial burden the new law could place on states.