Bill to rename NREGA after Mahatma Gandhi in Lok Sabha

A file picture of a group of women working under NREGA near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Photo: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar.

A bill seeking to name the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act after Mahatma Gandhi was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Rural Development Minister C P Joshi said the title of the Act is proposed to be amended as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.

The statement of objects and reasons of bill says that the association of the name of the Mahatma with the Act will reinforce its thrust towards equity and inclusiveness.

The Act is premised on rural households volunteering to do unskilled manual labour and the association of Mahatma Gandhi’s name with it underscores the dignity of labour, it said.