Hyderabad, Dec.18 (RAHNUMA): Minister for Revenue, Housing, Information, and Public Relations Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is an insult to him. The Minister said the removal of Gandhi’s name is a shameful act.
In a statement released on Thursday, Ponguleti criticised that while the then UPA government introduced the historic employment guarantee scheme in 2005 with the aim of supporting impoverished families, the BJP government has been undermining and weakening the scheme for the past ten years.
The Minister criticised the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name and the shifting of 40 percent of the burden onto the states, calling it an attack on the livelihoods of the poor.
He stated that the bill introduced in Parliament today represents a step backward in development and imposes an unbearable burden on the states.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy further said that changing the name of the ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ (MGNREGA), which has been the backbone of India’s rural economy, to Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) is unjust.
He argued that the new bill, which was forcibly passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, completely alters the nature of the scheme and its funding mechanism.
