BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that ‘Save Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ should become a people’s movement, and the agitation should continue until MGNREGA is restored and the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) is repealed. Speaking at a preparatory meeting of ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ in Bengaluru, the CM said that the BJP is allergic to the name of Mahatma Gandhi.
Siddaramaiah said that the agitation to restore MGNREGA should be similar to the farmers’ protest that rocked North India when the NDA government brought three new farm laws.
The CM said that the AICC executive committee has taken this issue seriously. He said when Dr Manmohan Singh was the PM, the MGNREGA Act was implemented to provide basic rights to the poor in rural India. In the last 20 years, over 12.16 crore people were employed through MGNREGA, of which 6.12 crore were women, the CM claimed.
“By bringing VB-G RAM G, they are trying to kill Mahatma Gandhi again. This RAM is not Seetha Ram or Dasharatha Ram, but Nathuram,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that with the new Bill, the State Government has to bear 40% of expenditure, which comes to around Rs 2,400 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar stated that the BJP has undermined MGNREGA, which played a crucial role in developing rural India. Shivakumar said that each panchayat was getting about Rs 2 crore a year, but that is being jeopardised by the new scheme of the Centre.
“Under this scheme, the panchayats cannot decide where the work should happen. The 90:10 ratio of fund shares has also been changed to 60:40, which puts more pressure on the states. The BJP will not be able to implement the new project in states ruled by it also,” the Deputy CM said.
Further, Shivakumar said that the Congress high command has given directives on how to go about the protest. “In the first phase, the district in-charge ministers will be addressing press conferences in each district. Everyone has to follow the AICC guidelines. We will remove those who don’t take up any responsibility. The AICC is sending a team to appoint new district presidents,” he said.
Shivakumar also said that they will take a decision on calling a two-day special session of the Assembly in the next Cabinet meeting. He also said that a 5-10 km padayatra must be organised in all Assembly constituencies. “A memorandum must be submitted to the taluk office after the padayatra. I will come for the padayatra in four or five places. I will surely take part in the padayatra at Shikaripura. I will come to constituencies where we don’t have an MLA,” Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC chief, said.
On the new party offices across Karnataka, Shivakumar said the party had 19 sites and 45 own buildings in the past. “Sixty-four new sites have been registered for the party since I took over. Another 58 sites are in the process of registration. We will have 122 assets, and we need to take them to 186. We have decided to mandatorily build party offices in all the districts and taluk centres. Many party leaders have given as many as 22 sites to the party,” he said.
Shivakumar called Congress leaders to prepare for the upcoming local body elections. “It has been decided to hold local body elections within the next four to five months. The Supreme Court has also given its ruling on the elections. All of you must prepare for these elections,” he added.
Beware of SIR: Deputy CM
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) will soon be implemented in Karnataka too.
“Our future depends on SIR, and all of you have to protect the interests of voters. Vote Chori protest started from Karnataka, and our national leaders have appreciated the party workers of Karnataka for collecting 1.41 crore signatures,” Shivakumar said.