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Gehlot wants National Advisory Council re-constituted

VIJAYPURA (Rajsamand): Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has made a strong plea for re-constitution of the National Advisory Council for more innovative ideas which went into the making of path-breaking legislation such as the Right to Information Act (RTA) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the past. The Council, once headed by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, became almost non-functional after her resignation from the body in the wake of the controversy over “office of profit”.

Mr. Gehlot, who was the chief guest at a unique NREGA Rozgar Mela here -- which espoused the NREGA in its entirety -- said but for the Council and its chairperson Sonia Gandhi, both the Acts and much other progressive legislation, including the Tribal Act, would not have materialised.

“The National Advisory Council should be reconstituted with Ms. Gandhi as its chairperson. The decision to guarantee jobs for 100 days, made by the previous United Progressive Alliance Government at the advice of the Council, proved historical for the nation,” said Mr. Gehlot at the concluding session of the mela, also addressed by Union Rural Development Minister C. P. Joshi.

In fact, after the resignation of Ms. Gandhi, the Council, set up after a Government of India notification on May 31, 2004, as “an interface with civil society in regard to the implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme”, became non-operative with some of the members, including Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, quitting.

The mandate as such for the body was to meet at least once in every quarter though after Ms. Gandhi’s exit the number of meetings had become few and far between.

“The Council should be once again in place, for such decisions in favour of India’s poor and rural people would come only from such a body. The previous Manmohan Singh Government got ideas from the Advisory Council. The present Government too would benefit immensely from it,” said Mr. Gehlot, who also appreciated the role of Ms. Roy, her associate Nikhil Dey and other activists of the Rajsamand district-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.

“Arunaji has dedicated her life to the country’s poor, the downtrodden and for social justice. My government will not lag behind in supporting her,” said the Chief Minister as the huge gathering of men and women from villages, all of them beneficiaries of the employment scheme, cheered.

Mr. Gehlot said the job scheme had proved a boon for a State like Rajasthan where drought and large-scale migration of rural people were a regular feature.

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