Hyderabad: Minister for Transport and BC Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar on Sunday strongly demanded that the Union government withdraw what he termed anti-people decisions weakening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), alleging that the Centre was deliberately shifting financial responsibility onto States.

Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan, along with Ministers G Vivek and Mohd Azharuddin, Ponnam Prabhakar said the Congress had a historic role in India’s freedom movement and continued to spearhead the country’s development after Independence. He stated that landmark reforms introduced during the tenures of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and the UPA government laid the foundation for India’s global standing today.

He recalled that after the Congress came to power at the Centre in 2004 under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, extensive consultations were held with economists and intellectuals, leading to the introduction of MNREGA to strengthen rural livelihoods. The scheme, he said, was aimed at ensuring employment during periods of joblessness and preventing hunger in rural areas, thereby transforming the rural economy.

The Minister alleged that despite promises made by the BJP in its 2014 election manifesto to expand the employment guarantee scheme to urban areas, the Centre was now weakening MNREGA. “Instead of extending the scheme, the Central government is diluting it by imposing a 60:40 funding ratio, placing an unbearable financial burden on States, even though MNREGA is a Centrally legislated Act,” he said.

Ponnam Prabhakar also objected to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme and replacing it with the title ‘VB G RAM G’, calling it a deliberate attempt to erase the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and other national leaders such as Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

As a mark of protest, he appealed to people to display Gandhi’s photographs in villages and demanded that Gram Sabhas pass resolutions opposing the move and forward them to the Prime Minister.

Labour Minister G Vivek said the Congress had consistently launched welfare schemes that directly benefitted the poor and marginalised. He termed the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name a conspiratorial act and accused the Centre of withholding funds and refusing to enhance the FRBM limit to financially pressurise States. He demanded that the Centre bear at least 90 percent of MNREGA expenditure.

Minorities Welfare and Public Enterprises Minister Mohd Azharuddin criticised the BJP for opposing Gandhi’s name, stating that while the world revered Mahatma Gandhi for his values and service to humanity, the ruling party at the Centre appeared uncomfortable with even invoking his legacy.