'Workers Must Unite to Bring Back MNREGA': Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi urges unity to restore MGNREGA, criticises new VB-G RAM G Act.
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Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has called for workers across India to unite in demanding the restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). He made these remarks at the national MGNREGA workers’ convention in New Delhi, where he compared the government’s repeal of MGNREGA to the earlier farm laws, urging collective action to reverse the new VB-G RAM G Act.
According to The Indian Express, Rahul Gandhi stated that the government’s objectives in repealing MGNREGA mirror those behind the introduction of the three farm laws, which were withdrawn after sustained protests. He emphasised that the original intent of MGNREGA was to provide dignified work through the Panchayati Raj system, and accused the current administration of seeking to dismantle this rights-based approach.
As highlighted by Hindustan Times, Gandhi called on workers to take inspiration from the farmers’ movement of 2020-21, which led to the repeal of the contentious farm laws. He argued that the new VB-G RAM G Act centralises decision-making in Delhi, potentially favouring BJP-ruled states and reducing the autonomy and rights of workers at the local level.
As coverage revealed, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also addressed the convention, asserting that the repeal of MGNREGA was an attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. He pledged that the Congress party would raise the issue forcefully in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament and continue to fight for the restoration of the scheme.
Gandhi reiterated that the new law undermines the rights of workers, shifting benefits to contractors and bureaucracy. He claimed that the government’s broader policy direction is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, at the expense of the poor and marginalised.
“The MGNREGA movement is a big opportunity for the poor people who believe in the Constitution, democracy and the idea of India… if they stand together, Modi ji will back off and MGNREGA would be reinstated,”
At the convention, reporting indicated that Gandhi described the original MGNREGA as a scheme that guaranteed the right to work for all poor people, implemented through local governance. He criticised the new system for removing these rights and for potentially increasing the role of private contractors and central bureaucracy in the allocation of work and funds.
Workers from across the country participated in the convention, symbolically bringing soil from their work sites. Analysis showed that the Congress party has launched a 45-day nationwide campaign, ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, demanding the withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and the restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law.
Kharge questioned why other political parties have not raised the issue with similar intensity. The Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, has committed to supporting workers in their efforts to restore the scheme as details emerged.
Gandhi’s remarks at the convention were part of a broader critique of the government’s economic and social policies. Further statements by Gandhi have emphasised the importance of public dissent and collective action, stating that “great nations are not built on silence, but when people express their views and fight for them.”
“If we stand together unitedly, they are cowardly people. You can decide the name of the scheme and its modalities,”
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.