BELAGAVI: The Congress will launch a nationwide mass movement called ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ against the Union Government’s decision to repeal the UPA-era rural job scheme with VB-G RAM G, AICC in-charge secretary Gopinath Palaniyappan has said.
Addressing a press conference in Belagavi on Saturday, he said the Centre’s decision has diluted the very spirit of the landmark welfare legislation that guarantees employment as a legal right to rural workers. Palaniyappan recalled that the UPA government enacted MGNREGA in 2005 to ensure livelihood security for rural labourers, curb distress migration, and enhance wages.
The scheme, he said, became a lifeline for women, Dalits, Adivasis, and families in border and backward regions. However, the recent changes— including renaming and restructuring the programme—have not only altered its name but also undermined its core objective of guaranteed employment, he said.
Palaniyappan said that the agitation will be conducted in phases across the country from January 10 to February 25.
The movement aims to protect workers’ rights under NREGA and restore the Act in its original form, he said.
Outlining the programme, Palaniyappan said district-level press conferences, symbolic protests, one-day fasts, GP outreach programmes, ward-level dharnas, district collectorate protests, and a state-level Assembly gherao will be organised in a systematic manner. Memorandums will be submitted to district authorities demanding withdrawal of the amendments and full restoration of MGNREGA, he said.