New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday of meting out injustice to the country’s labourers by “weakening” the MGNREGA, as she flagged the outstanding dues to be paid by the Centre to the states under the scheme.
The Congress general secretary shared on X a media report that claimed that payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have not been made to labourers in Madhya Pradesh.
“‘The labourer should get his wages before his sweat dries’. In ‘Amritkaal’, this phrase has become a joke for the workers?” Gandhi said in his post on the microblogging platform.
“According to reports, MGNREGA payments worth Rs 16,000 crore to be made to states are pending as of February 1. The labourers are facing the problem of raising children but the government does not care about it,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi first described the MGNREGA as a “monument of failure” of the Congress and tried to shut it down, but when he came face to face with the ground reality, he could not stop it but continuously reduced the budget, Gandhi claimed.
“This time too, they are trying to garner applause by making a minor increase, whereas the truth is that the amount allocated in the budget is equal to the revised budget of 2023-24. Experts say that only 25 days of employment can be provided in the amount that would be left after paying the dues and other expenses, whereas the MGNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of employment,” she said.
The Congress government had brought the MGNREGA so that money comes into the hands of common villagers, the poor and labourers, and their households can be run, Gandhi said.
“The BJP government is doing injustice to the workers of the country by weakening MGNREGA,” she alleged. PTI ASK RC
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