Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, MP, has said that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has made a revolutionary change, especially among rural families, in the country.
Inaugurating a meeting of workers under the MGNREGS in Nenmeni grama panchayat at Koliyadi in the district on Saturday, Mr. Gandhi said the scheme was the largest poverty alleviation programme launched by the former UPA government.
The project introduced the concept of minimum wages in rural areas, Mr. Gandhi said. As the core concept of the scheme was ‘build India and win dignity of workers’, the project should expand to other sectors.
Mr. Gandhi said he was shocked when Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Lok Sabha that the scheme was the living monument of the failures of the UPA government.
“Now, I realise that Mr. Modi could not understand the depth of the scheme,” Mr. Gandhi said, adding that it was still the last resort of rural people, especially during the pandemic. The government should seriously consider workers’ demand to increase working days to 200 days under the scheme. Also, daily wages are to be increased and the scheme expanded to sectors like paddy.
Addressing the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting, Mr. Gandhi urged the Centre to allot enough funds for the execution of projects under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The Centre had allotted only ₹1. 66 crore for the project in the last three months, and if the government failed to allot more funds urgently ,the project would be in limbo, he said.
