Mounesh Vishwakarma

Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal

Bantwal, Jan 19: Former minister and senior Congress leader Ramanath Rai strongly objected to the Union government’s decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a flagship scheme introduced by the UPA government that has earned global recognition. Addressing a press conference in Bantwal, he said the move was an attack on the values of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking at the Panemangaluru Block Congress office in BC Road, Rai said removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from a scheme that has become a lifeline for the rural poor was not merely a change of name but an attempt to undermine Gandhian ideals. He alleged that a programme which has played a crucial role in the country’s development was being weakened for political reasons.

Rai said lacs of rural families depended on the employment guarantee scheme for their livelihood and that it served as a vital safety net for women, daily wage workers and economically weaker sections. The Congress would never accept any attempt to dilute the core spirit of such a people-centric programme, he asserted.

Warning that there was a systematic attempt to erase the country’s history by gradually removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from public schemes, Rai termed it a dangerous trend and demanded that the Union government immediately reconsider its decision.

He said the Congress was launching nationwide protests against the Centre’s move, with padayatras planned across districts. In Dakshina Kannada, padayatras covering at least five km would be organised in every taluk. In the Bantwal assembly constituency, the protest would begin on Tuesday, Jan 27, with a padayatra from Manihalla to Kaikamba, proceeding through BC Road town and culminating at the mini Vidhana Soudha, where a protest would be held.

Rai further said protests would also be organised at the village level in the Bantwal assembly constituency before Jan 27. Resolutions opposing the renaming of the employment guarantee scheme would be passed in gram panchayats where the Congress had administrative control, while memorandums would be submitted in other gram panchayats.

Block Congress presidents Balakrishna Anchan and Chandrashekhara Bhandary, along with party leaders Piyus L Rodriguez, Sudarshan Jain, Chandraprakash Shetty, Padmashekar Jain, Baby Kundar, Abbas Ali, Mallika Shetty, Lavina Vilma Moras, Luqman and others were present.