Congress slams new law as 'anti–MGNREGA'

Kurnool: Congress Working Committee permanent invitee, AICC Jharkhand in-charge and Former IAS officer Koppula Raju has strongly criticised the Centre, alleging that a new law is undermining the rights of workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Addressing a press conference at district Congress Committee office here on Saturday, he said the BJP-led Union government was attempting to dilute and dismantle a landmark welfare programme that empowered the rural poor and provided them employment security.

Recalling the origins of MGNREGA, Raju said the scheme had a deep connection with Andhra Pradesh, as it was launched during the UPA regime by the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy at Bandlapalli village in Anantapur district. He noted that Andhra Pradesh became a national model in implementing the scheme, particularly through timely wage payments, minimum wages, guaranteed work within 15 days of demand, and the unique system of social audits conducted by workers themselves, which ensured transparency and accountability.

Raju asserted that over the past two decades, MGNREGA brought visible socio-economic transformation among rural families, especially SCs, STs and women. The scheme, he said, supplemented household incomes by Rs 10,000–Rs 15,000 annually, improved land and water conservation, encouraged horticulture and reduced migration. He alleged that the new law not only removes the spirit of guaranteed employment but also cuts workdays, introduces contractor involvement, shifts wage burden partly to States, and grants excessive discretion to the Centre, thereby stripping workers of their rights and protections.

DCC president B Kranti Naidu described the scrapping and dilution of MGNREGA as a grave injustice to rural labourers and accused the BJP of erasing Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals. He said the Congress would intensify its agitation across the district until the new law is withdrawn and the original scheme restored.