{"id":13348,"date":"2024-02-04T22:36:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T17:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asia.businessupturn.com\/?p=13348"},"modified":"2024-02-04T22:36:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T17:06:15","slug":"modi-government-accused-of-undermining-mgnregs-by-senior-congress-leader-jairam-ramesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/south-asia\/india\/modi-government-accused-of-undermining-mgnregs-by-senior-congress-leader-jairam-ramesh\/13348\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi Government accused of undermining MGNREGS by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior Congress leader and former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has accused the administration of attempting to dismantle the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Ramesh\u2019s comments come just a day after the 18th anniversary of the inception of the landmark scheme, which has been instrumental in providing employment opportunities to millions of rural Indians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally introduced as part of the Congress party\u2019s 2004 election manifesto, MGNREGS was swiftly implemented within a year of the party assuming power, with the Act being passed on August 23, 2005. Since its operationalization on February 2, 2006, the program has been hailed as a game-changer, significantly impacting rural incomes, poverty reduction efforts, and alleviating hunger. Ramesh underscored that the scheme has particularly benefited women and marginalized workers from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlighting the findings of research conducted over the past 18 years, Ramesh emphasized that MGNREGS has not only enhanced rural livelihoods but has also bestowed dignity upon workers by recognizing employment as a right rather than a reward, as previously suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Ramesh lamented that the Modi government\u2019s interventions have jeopardized the effectiveness of the scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the interventions cited by Ramesh are low budgetary allocations, the implementation of an Aadhaar-based payment system that excludes a substantial portion of registered workers, the deletion of seven crore job cards, and the introduction of a smartphone-based attendance system. These measures, Ramesh argues, have been designed to undermine MGNREGS and ultimately dismantle it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ramesh did not shy away from pointing fingers at what he describes as the Modi government\u2019s bias towards the interests of capitalist allies, suggesting that their dissatisfaction with MGNREGS has influenced the government\u2019s approach. He accused the Prime Minister of being willing to sacrifice the welfare of the poor in his pursuit to discredit programs initiated by the Congress party, irrespective of the harm it may cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

The allegations put forth by him have reignited debates surrounding the future of MGNREGS and the government\u2019s commitment to welfare programs aimed at uplifting the rural populace. As the controversy unfolds, stakeholders across political lines are closely monitoring developments, with questions arising about the government\u2019s responsibility to uphold schemes that have had a tangible impact on the lives of millions of Indians.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to Ramesh\u2019s accusations, government officials have reiterated their commitment to rural development but have not directly addressed the allegations of undermining MGNREGS.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally introduced as part of the Congress party\u2019s 2004 election manifesto, MGNREGS was swiftly implemented within a year of the party assuming power, with the Act being passed on August 23, 2005. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":13350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1018,8717,8716,491],"class_list":["post-13348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","tag-congress","tag-jairam-ramesh","tag-mgnregs","tag-pm-narendra-modi"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}