VIJAYAWADA: The Congress party has launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led central government, accusing it of undermining the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and thereby jeopardising the livelihoods of millions of rural poor.
At a consultation meeting held at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan, the State Congress headquarters in Vijayawada, senior leader and former minister N Raghuveera Reddy described the amendments introduced by the NDA government as regressive. Reddy, who was a minister when MGNREGA was first implemented in Anantapur two decades ago, recalled how the scheme had transformed rural India by providing guaranteed employment to farmhands, small and marginal farmers.
“For 20 years, MGNREGA acted as a catalyst for rural development. Roads, water conservation projects, and tank desiltation became realities because of it,” he said.
Stressing that the Congress was never opposed to reforms, senior leader Raghuveera Reddy argued that amendments should strengthen legislation, not weaken it.