New Delhi:
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has demanded to increase government funds for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme and to increase the minimum wage rate of ₹ 400 for rural laborers. Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded this demand from the government during the zero period in the Rajya Sabha that in view of the wage crisis in rural areas, rural laborers should get 150 days of employment instead of 100 days a year under MNREGA. Salary payment is being delayed to laborers. They should get wages on time and eliminate the requirement of payment system based on Aadhaar card.
Sonia Gandhi alleged that the current NDA government has systematically hollowed out the scheme. Budget allocation for MNREGA is not only stable at Rs 86,000 crore, but it has reduced Rs 4,000 crore.
Samajwadi Party and RJD have supported Sonia Gandhi’s demand. Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav said that we support this demand raised by Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha today. This is very important for poor people.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said in a conversation with NewsDeskReport that we support Sonia Gandhi’s demand to increase the minimum wage under MNREGA to ₹ 400 and under MNREGA in the year, instead of 100 days of employment.
The government retaliated and said that during the tenure of the Modi government, the funds given for MNREGA have been increased by almost three times more than the Congress rule. The Government of India responded to the demand of Sonia Gandhi and said that during the tenure of the Congress, there was loot in MNREGA. He was a symbol of government failure.
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh told NewsDeskReport that during the Congress rule, the budget of MNREGA used to be only 33,000 crores. There have been many years in the Modi government when the budget of MNREGA was increased to more than one lakh crore. In the last few years, the MNREGA budget has been around 80,000 to 90,000 crores.
The question of MNREGA has been raised many times in Parliament many times. The budgetary allocation of the world’s biggest employment scheme has been extended in the last few years. But the question of delay in getting payment from workers from some states has also been raised. In such a situation, the state governments will have to ensure that the provisions of MNREGA are effectively implemented on the ground.