'Legal right turned into budget-limited scheme': Cong slams BJP for dismantling MGNREGA

The MGNREGA was introduced by the UPA government in 2005. (PTI Image for representation)

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan on Monday alleged that the Centre has effectively dismantled the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by pushing through a new legislative framework.

She accused the Modi government at the Centre of snatching away the right to work from the rural poor.

Addressing a press conference here, Ranjan said the changes amounted to the "murder of MGNREGA" and a deliberate attempt to weaken what she described as the world's largest employment guarantee programme.

"Under the guise of reforms, the government has converted a rights-based guarantee into a conditional, centrally controlled scheme. What was once a legal right linked to Article 21 has now been reduced to administrative assistance dependent entirely on the Centre's discretion," she said.

The Congress leader alleged that the scheme, which she called a lifeline for crores of rural households and a critical safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been systematically weakened since 2014 through budget cuts and delayed fund releases.

Ranjan claimed that these steps have led to a sharp reduction in employment under the scheme, with workers getting only 50-55 days of work annually over the past five years, against the guaranteed 100 days.

She also accused the Centre of shifting the financial burden to states by asking them to bear about 40 per cent of the expenditure while retaining control over rules, branding and credit. "This is financial deception and a textbook example of the Centre undermining federalism," she said.

Ranjan further alleged that decentralisation under MGNREGA has been eroded, with powers earlier vested in gram sabhas and panchayats being replaced by centralised digital systems and monitoring mechanisms.

"The demand-driven nature of MGNREGA is being dismantled and replaced with a capped allocation system, turning a legal right into a budget-limited scheme," she said, adding that the move was an "insult to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals" and an attack on rural employment.

The Congress MP said her party would oppose the changes "from the streets to Parliament," calling them anti-poor, anti-worker and anti-federal.