Shillong, Jan 8: The Congress will start agitations across the country, starting from January 10 to February 25, against the BJP-led NDA government’s decision to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat‑Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB‑GRAM G) Act, 2025.
“We are planning to have a series of agitations. On that front, we are working. They have done away with MGNREGA, and they are going to implement the VB-G RAM G scheme. I think they are obsessed with the name of Mahatma Gandhi, that you all know, and they want to communalise this,” said Pala after chairing a party meeting on Thursday.
According to Pala, the new scheme is designed to take away the rights of the poor, and it is a supply-driven rather than demand-driven approach, unlike MGNREGA.
“The question of guarantee doesn’t arise in the new Bill, actually. For example, before in the MGNREGA if you want a job you demand from the competent authority and they have to give you within 15 days and if they don’t give they are bound to pay but in the new Bill, if you want job, they will send it to Centre and the Centre will sanction the amount and it is up to them whether they will give it or not,” he said.
Pala accused the BJP-led government of diluting the implementation of schemes, including MGNREGA, and using unreliable technologies like Aadhaar-based and geo-tagged systems.
“They use Aadhaar-based, geo-tagged systems and lots of technologies which are not reliable as of today. For example, in Shillong, you get proper internet, but in the rural areas, you will not get internet. By not getting the internet, they are done away with the rights of the people,” the Congress chief said.
The party plans to hold agitations at the zonal, district, and state levels, with details to be announced on January 10 through a nationwide press briefing.
“We will expose them one by one. They will do a little bit of fasting at the district level, and we will do agitations at the zonal, district and state levels also,” Pala said.
