Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 13 The Congress, on Tuesday, intensified its attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government over changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), demanding that the Kerala Assembly pass a resolution seeking restoration of the scheme in its original form and warning that the controversial amendments would eventually be rolled back under public pressure.
Addressing a Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)-led day-and-night protest in front of the Lok Bhavan, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal urged the Pinarayi Vijayan government to follow the examples of Telangana and Karnataka.
Venugopal noted that the Telangana Assembly had unanimously adopted a resolution demanding withdrawal of the new provisions, while Karnataka had convened a special Assembly session to debate the issue.
Similar resolutions should also be passed in gram sabhas across Kerala, he said.
Venugopal accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government of destroying the very essence of the employment guarantee programme through legislative changes that undermine the right to work.
He alleged that the amendments were bulldozed through the Parliament without discussion, shifted financial burdens onto states, weakened decentralisation by centralising decision-making, and introduced biometric conditions aimed at excluding workers.
Taking a jobe at Chief Minister Vijayan, Venugopal questioned his moral authority to protest against the Centre after allegedly signing onto the PM-SHRI scheme without consulting INDIA bloc allies.
He dismissed the criticism of United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs, asserting that they had consistently raised Kerala's issues in the Parliament, unlike the Left Democratic Front (LDF) MPs.
Drawing parallels with the repeal of the farm laws by the Union government, Venugopal said sustained public mobilisation would force the Centre to withdraw the MGNREGS amendments as well.
Renaming the scheme, he alleged, amounted to an assault on Gandhian ideals and was part of a broader Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's agenda.
Echoing these views, KPCC President Sunny Joseph said the BJP was using its Parliamentary majority to "strangle" a scheme designed by the UPA to alleviate rural poverty and realise the Gandhian vision of Gram Swaraj.
Just as mass protests compelled the Centre to repeal the farm laws, he said, public resistance would ensure that the employment guarantee scheme is restored in full.
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