The Centre is keen on scrapping the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Act providing job guarantee for 100 days in rural parts of the country, said Nagendra Nath Ojha of the Communist Party of India here on Tuesday.
The Union government had restricted the areas of implementation under the MGNREGA and had not made proper allocation for the job scheme, said Mr. Ojha, who is the All India general secretary of the Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU), the agricultural workers wing of the CPI.
Mr. Ojha, who was here to attend the CPI State-level farm workers’ association conference, told presspersons that the union had given a nationwide struggle call to save the MGNREGA providing jobs and income to crores of farm workers across the country.
Under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime –II, the MGNREGA was not properly implemented. The BKMU had been demanding that job guarantee under the scheme be increased to 200 days a year and increase the wages to Rs. 400, he said.
11 crore job cardholders
The Modi government, he said, had changed the ratio of wage and material component under the scheme.
“Today we are struggling to save the MGNREGA”, he said and added that there were 11 crore job cardholders under the Act.
Land should be given to the landless and not to corporates, he said and added that the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 should remain as it was passed in Parliament with the consent of all parties.
He charged the BJP government with having discontinued 24 centrally-sponsored welfare schemes affecting the rural poor.
‘Many restrictions imposed on its implementation’
‘Proper allocation has not been made’
