Belagavi (Karnataka) [India], December 17 (ANI): Karnataka Congress leaders on Wednesday staged protests near the Gandhi statue at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi against the Central government over the National Herald case and the decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as VB-G Ram G.
During the protest, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the National Herald was closely linked to India’s freedom movement. “The National Herald is the pride of the country, established by Jawaharlal Nehru during the freedom movement,” he said, questioning the actions of central agencies in the case.
Shivakumar alleged that he has still not been provided with a copy of the FIR and said that the image of the Enforcement Directorate has been “tarnished” due to such actions.
“I ask only one question: why have they still not provided me with the FIR copy. The image of the Enforcement Directorate has been tarnished today,” Shivakumar said to reporters.
The protest also focused on the Centre’s move to rename MGNREGA, with Congress leaders accusing the BJP-led government of undermining the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and diluting a landmark welfare scheme.
Karnataka Minister M B Patil said Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation and described MGNREGA as a successful programme that generated local employment across rural India.
“Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation. It was a successful programme that provided local employment, initiated under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi. The BJP could not digest this and changed its name,” Patil said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the Congress’s nationwide protest, Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy criticised the party, claiming it was the Congress that had historically opposed Mahatma Gandhi. He alleged that Gandhi had once advised the Congress to dissolve itself after independence, arguing that it should no longer function as a political party.
“We are not against Gandhi. Congress is against Gandhi because Gandhi had told the people of Congress that they had achieved independence, so dissolve the Congress organisation immediately, as it is not a political party. They are the ones against Gandhi,” he said.
The Bill introduced by the Agriculture Minister in the Lok Sabha guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10.
Section 6 of the Bill allows the State governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, when no work will be commenced or executed under the Bill. (ANI)
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