BENGALURU: AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005), which is an instrument of livelihood for the poor, marginalised, SC/STs and OBCs, is under attack by the Union Government. The Congress leader also alleged that the economy is in distress and unemployment is very high.
The Congress leader said that the budget for MGNREGA has stagnated at around Rs 86,000 crore. He said Aadhaar-MGNREGA card linking denied 7 crore registered workers their rightful wages and employment, and total person-days of work under MGNREGA fell from 312.37 crore in 2023-24 to just 239.67 crore by February 2025, he said.
“Congress guaranteed and had implemented 100 days of work, but the BJP has slashed it to just 45,” he said. Surjewala said Wednesday’s Bharat Bandh, a nationwide strike by trade unions, was a protest against the Modi government’s alleged anti-worker and anti-farmer policies.
The Congress leader said the BJP government failed to provide adequate employment opportunities, with over 30 lakh vacancies across various departments of the Government of India and Public Sector Undertakings. Unemployment in India has reached alarming levels, but the government has failed to take effective action, he said.
He said wealth inequality in India is worsening as the rich are getting richer while the poor continue to suffer. India has slipped to 111th out of 125 countries in the 2023 Global Hunger Index and India stands at 134th out of 193 on the UNDP’s Human Development Index (2022), which measures life expectancy, education, and income.