Kolkata, Dec 20 The Trinamool Congress, on Saturday, issued a notification renaming the West Bengal government's own job guarantee programme after Mahatma Gandhi as a mark of protest against the Union government's recent decision to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) scheme with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G scheme.
As per the notification issued by the State Secretariat, Nabanna, on Saturday evening, "Karmashree", the state government's own job guarantee scheme, has been renamed as "Mahatmashree".
The announcement for renaming "Karmashree" after Mahatma Gandhi was made by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on December 18, while addressing the inaugural session of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS)-2025, the annual event organised by the state government to showcase West Bengal as an ideal business and investment destination.
"I feel ashamed that the Union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name from the NREGA programme because I, too, belong to this country. We are now forgetting even the Father of the Nation. If they (BJP) can't give respect to the Father of the Nation, we (Trinamool Congress) will. We will now rename the 'Karmashree' scheme of our state after Mahatma Gandhi," Chief Minister Banerjee said on Thursday.
Now, the announcement on this count made on Thursday, gets the official seal with the issuance of a notification by the State Secretariat.
Under the 'Karmashree' scheme, henceforth to be known as "Mahatmashree", the West Bengal government claims to provide up to 75 days of work to beneficiaries.
The Chief Minister had already claimed that the West Bengal government aims to increase the number of workdays under the scheme to 100 in the future.
"We have already created a large number of workdays under 'Karmashree', which we are running with our own resources. Even if Central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work. We are not beggars," Chief Minister Banerjee had claimed.
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