Akash Jha
On Wednesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that even after slashing the MGNREGA budget by a third, the Modi administration still owes 18 states and union territories a total of Rs 6,366 crore in salaries.
He also spoke highly of MGNREGA, the Congress’s 2005 flagship rural employment guarantee initiative.
To guarantee the “Right to Work” for billions of people, he stated, “on this day in 2005, our Congress-UPA Government enacted MGNREGA.”
Kharge said on X that even though the “Modi Government has cut MGNREGA’s budget by 33%, this year and it owes Rs 6,366 crore in MGNREGA wages to 18 States and Union Territories,” the Congress party’s flagship programme continues to provide support for 14.42 crore active workers, of whom more than half are women.
“MGNREGA was a lifesaver during the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic and acted as safety net to crores of workers, making up for 80% of their income loss during the pandemic,” he added.
The Congress further claimed that Manmohan Singh, under whose leadership MGNREGA was passed, was responsible for this.
The party declared on X (previously Twitter) that MGNREGA “provided livelihood security to millions ever since, making up for up to 80 percent income loss during pandemic and playing a positive role in helping people sustain their livelihood in difficult times.”
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