Amitabh Dubey, in-charge of Research and Monitoring, Communications Department, Indian National Congress, on Monday, slammed the BJP government at the Centre for renaming and designing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
He added that the National Herald case against the Congress leaders was a political witch hunt and a political vendetta by the Modi government.
He said both MGNREGA and the National Food Security Act were the UPA’s policies, which saved the people during the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the MGNREGA has been given a shiny exterior. But the interior was rotten, he said.
Earlier, the scheme applied everywhere and was self-selecting. It gave landless labourers bargaining power. Farmers couldn’t pay whatever they wanted. There was a minimum wage. Now these aspects have been removed. Earlier, the government would fulfil the demand. Now, there is a budget cap and the government will fix a certain amount, he said.
The State has to pay 40% of the funds now. Earlier, the Centre was paying 90%. But now it will only pay 60%. The BJP government was bargaining with the States and not granting funds. The Centre was penalising the States for their own spending. Gram sabha was being disempowered, he said.
“The new scheme was inferior to the previous scheme. We will oppose this in the parliament and the streets”, he said.
Referring to the National Herald case, in which a Delhi court had rejected the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) money laundering complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he said the Modi government had misused the investigating agency.
When you allege fraud, someone has to be defrauded. Has any shareholder complained or anyone was defrauded, he asked. He said it was a political witch hunt and political vendetta. The BJP government will pay for it, he added.
Madurai District Congress President V. Karthikeyan was present.
Published – December 22, 2025 09:20 pm IST
