Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday accused the Modi government of ending MNREGA with a “death by thousand cuts strategy” and said the end of the scheme that embodied Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya is “our collective moral failure.”
Sonia, in an article written for the English daily ‘The Hindu’, also said that we have to be united to protect the rights that protect everyone. President Draupadi Murmu on Sunday gave his approval to the ‘Developed India – Ji Ram Ji’ Bill. With this it has now become an Act and a notification in this regard has been published in the Gazette of India.This bill was passed by the Parliament last Thursday.
Sonia Gandhi wrote in the article, ‘In the last few days, the Narendra Modi government has tried to move towards abolishing MNREGA without discussion, consultation or respect for parliamentary processes and centre-state relations. Removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme is just an example. The entire structure of MNREGA, which was essential for its effectiveness, has been completely destroyed.
He said, ‘It should be remembered that this has been the largest social security initiative in the world and also one of the most studied and evaluated schemes. All these studies have underlined its transformative effects on the most vulnerable sections of society.
He also claimed that the financial condition of the states, which is already under severe pressure and crisis, will now be further devastated.
The former Congress president wrote, ‘Apart from ending the demand-driven nature of the programme, the Modi government has also ended the decentralized nature of the scheme.’
He alleged that the Modi government is making misleading claims by saying that it has increased the employment guarantee from 100 days (under MNREGA) to 125 days.
He claimed, ‘In fact, the intentions of the Modi government can be clearly understood from its record in the last decade, in which it has continuously worked to strangle MNREGA. It started with the Prime Minister ridiculing the scheme on the floor of Parliament and then proceeded with strategies to dismantle it—such as a stagnant budget, use of disenfranchising techniques, and delays in payments to workers.’
According to Sonia Gandhi, “This subversion of the right to work should not be seen in isolation, but should be understood as part of a longer assault by the ruling establishment on the Constitution and its rights-based approach.” She claimed that now even the most fundamental right to vote is facing unprecedented attack.
The top Congress leader said, ‘MNREGA realizes Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya and implements the constitutional right to work. Its collapse is our collective moral failure—which will have financial and humanitarian consequences for millions of working people of India for years to come.’
Sonia Gandhi stressed, ‘Now more than ever, it is essential that we unite and defend the rights that protect us all.’
Sonia Gandhi had issued a video message last Saturday alleging that the Modi government has bulldozed MNREGA and attacked the interests of crores of farmers, laborers and landless rural class poor.
