The Bihar unit of the Indian National Congress has officially kicked off an extensive public outreach campaign aimed at opposing the central government's recent changes to the landmark rural jobs scheme. Dubbed the 'Save MGNREGA Campaign', this political drive was launched on Saturday from the party's state headquarters in Patna.
A Statewide Push Against the New Act
The campaign is slated to run for one and a half months, culminating on February 25 with a series of regional rallies across Bihar. In a significant organisational effort, Congress workers plan to cover every single one of the state's 8,064 panchayats during this period. The core of their agitation is the VB-G-RAM-G Act, which has replaced the original Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
MGNREGA was originally enacted in February 2005 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, under the prime ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. The party emphasises that the idea was conceived and planned at the National Advisory Council headed by senior leader Sonia Gandhi.
"Trampling Gandhi's Dream": Congress's Sharp Critique
At the launch event, Raushan Kumar Singh, the Congress observer for the party's Mahanagar unit, articulated the party's strong objections. He stated that the original nomenclature of the scheme honoured Mahatma Gandhi, but the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through the VB-G-RAM-G Act, has "trampled his dream of addressing the concerns of the rural poor and workers for guaranteed employment."
Singh declared the party's resolve to not allow the "crushing of Mahatma Gandhi’s dream and the constitutional guarantee for a job" that the old Act provided. He affirmed the party's commitment to protecting the rights of rural poor, workers, and those from weaker sections.
Grassroots Mobilisation Strategy
The campaign will employ a multi-pronged approach to connect with the masses. Party workers will engage in direct mass contact, organise group discussions, and distribute handbills to spread their message. The goal is to take the issue to the people at the district, block, and panchayat levels.
Singh also made a public appeal, urging citizens and locally elected representatives of the three-tier panchayati raj institutions to participate actively in this movement. He stressed that MGNREGA was fundamentally designed to protect the people's right to work, a principle the party claims is under threat.
With this ambitious 45-day campaign, the Bihar Congress is positioning itself at the forefront of a major political battle over rural welfare and employment guarantees, setting the stage for heightened political activity in the state leading up to the campaign's conclusion in late February.
