MGNREGA was a landmark legislation not just for India but for all those Countries around the World who sought to bring dignity to the crores of poor, seeking employment. MGNREGA made work a ‘Right’ of every Indian who sought work. Any Indian could demand work at any time of the year. If the government was not able to provide work, it required that the government compensate people with an unemployment allowance. MGNREGA also empowers the Panchayat and the Gram Sabha. The choice of what work will be done is not mandated by some power above, it is decided by the gram sabha based upon the needs of the local community. MGNREGA mandates that the Centre must fund all work demanded by the people of India within the 100 days guaranteed to each family. Through all of these provisions, the MGNREGA enshrined work as a right of every Indian.

The VBGRAMG systematically destroys the idea of work as a right. Work will be available not when the people demand it but when the government decides to provide it. There is no longer a guarantee of a minimum number of days of employment. There will be no employment during the harvest season. The maximum is 125 days but there is no guarantee that even a single day of work will be provided and no provision to penalize the government if they do not provide work. The panchayat and gram sabha have been entirely bypassed. The work undertaken will not be decided within the village but by the contractors who will benefit from the labour. The lacs of MGNREGA mates and Rozgar Sahayaks have no place in the new system. Lastly, the Modi government has pushed 40% of the financial burden upon states. No state is in a position to meet this obligation. This ensures that the scheme will not be taken up by any state. This signals the end of the ‘Right to Work’.

The VBGRAMG is an attack upon the poorest, most neglected of India’s people. It is an attack on human values, it is an attack on the Constitution, and it is an attack upon the ‘Soul of India’. The Congress Party will fight to preserve MGNREGA with all its might.

Jai Congress. Jai Hind. Jai Jagat