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News India Live, Digital Desk: MGNREGA is not just a government scheme, but the ‘breath’ of rural India. When no work is available, this scheme lights the stove in the kitchen of the poor. But is this old and trusted plan about to change? The news is big and directly related to your pocket and the prosperity of the village.
A big news has come from the South Indian state Telangana. The Legislative Assembly there has passed a strong resolution against the new proposed law of the Central Government, which is going to replace MNREGA.
After all, what is this new ‘bakheda’?
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy told in the Assembly that the Central Government is preparing to abolish MNREGA and bring a new law in its place. The name of this new act is quite heavy – “Developed India Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural)”It sounds good, but there is a problem with its rules,
Revanth Reddy and his government believe that this new law is actually a direct attack on the rights of the poor and laborers. Let us understand what is there in this new law over which there is so much ruckus.
3 big things you should know:
- Gandhiji’s name missing: The first objection that has been raised is that the name of “Mahatma Gandhi” has been removed from the new Act. CM Reddy says that this is not just removing the name, but destroying the ideology that had given the poor the right to work.
- ‘Leave’ for workers and benefit for farmers? The new proposal states that when there will be peak farming season (sowing-harvesting), work under MNREGA will be stopped for about 60 days. The logic is that with this, farmers will easily get laborers for their fields. But the question is – what will those who do not have their own land do in these two months? Will they not be forced to work cheaply? The Telangana government says that this is injustice to the Dalits and the landless.
- Expenditure burden on states: Till now, almost the entire expenditure of MNREGA was borne by the Central Government. But the news is that under the new rule 60:40 The formula is being introduced. That means 40% of the money will now have to be given to the state governments. Revanth Reddy clearly said that this will break the back of the states and they will not be able to do other development work.
What does BJP have to say?
BJP MLAs present in the House defended the Centre. He said that village farmers are troubled by the lack of labor, and this new change is to save farming and actually implement Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘Village Swaraj’.
Now what next?
As of now, the Telangana Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution (amid some opposition) that they will not allow this new Act to be implemented. This fight is no longer just about one state, but the question has arisen whether the old model of employment guarantee should be changed or not?
This issue is related to both the plate of the poor laborer and the rights of the states. It will be interesting to see how the central government reacts to this protest by the states.
