'Don't want change and transparency': Pralhad Joshi asks K'taka CM Siddaramaiah on opposing VB–G RAM G scheme

Bengaluru, Jan 8 Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, on Thursday, challenged the Congress-led Karnataka government to convey with what moral authority and for what purpose it has called for protests against the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Act.

Speaking to the media at the state BJP office "Jagannath Bhavan" in Bengaluru, Union Minister Joshi said, "There are even 80-year-old labourers. Money has been credited in their names. Old works were shown as new bills -- this has happened everywhere. Money was siphoned off in the name of a Dalit woman who was entitled to 100 days of work. During Siddaramaiah's first term as the Chief Minister, the Karnataka government took no action."

"There are thousands of such examples of misappropriation. Don't you want change and transparency in this?" he asked.

"Rahul Gandhi has no sense. Don't you have any sense, Mr Siddaramaiah?" the Union Minister asked.

"When discussions on the VB-G RAM G scheme issue took place, Rahul Gandhi was not present in the Parliament," Union Minister Joshi alleged, asking whether the Congress leader could be considered a serious politician.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) had gone abroad. Why did he go abroad?" the Union Minister asked.

Union Minister Joshi said that earlier the state governments did not contribute even a single paisa, and there was a system where arbitrary works were taken up to siphon off Central funds.

Action was taken against officials who failed to meet targets, he said, adding that despite direct wage payments in recent years, there was no effective monitoring system earlier in place.

The Union Minister added that a comprehensive effort has now been made to introduce a monitoring mechanism, centralised payments, and eliminate all confusion.

The claim that the Centre has usurped decision-making powers under this scheme is the biggest lie, Union Minister Joshi said, accusing the Congress of being habitual liars.

"For the Congress, lies are like a household deity," he remarked.

Union Minister Joshi said that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in the Parliament that corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore took place during the 10 years of UPA rule, which the Congress never denied.

He alleged that the Congress is opposing the VB-G RAM G scheme because it wants to continue corruption even under this welfare scheme programme and is uncomfortable with the transparency introduced.

He said that village panchayats would continue to take decisions under the VB-G RAM G scheme.

"The programme has been integrated with the Prime Minister's Gati Shakti initiative, which allows clear identification of what infrastructure will be developed in which village. Under Gati Shakti, projects worth Rs 85 lakh crore across various sectors have been approved; otherwise, many of these projects would have remained stalled," he added.

Union Minister Joshi said the Congress has called for protests against the VB–G RAM G scheme.

"When development planning was undertaken 20 years ago, there was no concept of a developed India or long-term asset creation. At that time, the economic condition of the country and its people was extremely difficult," he added.

"The scheme does not take away the right to work, and the number of guaranteed workdays has been increased to 125," he said.

"According to estimates by the State Bank of India, it states that the VB-G RAM G scheme properly provides employment while developing basic infrastructure will receive up to Rs 17,000 crore," the Union Minister added.

"Even when MGNREGA was implemented during the Congress-led UPA government's rule, the average number of workdays provided by various state governments was only about 50 days," he noted.

He also said that there were numerous instances where work was carried out using JCB machines.

Union Minister Joshi added that social audits conducted in gram sabhas recorded 10.51 lakh complaints over three years, including non-payment of wages, non-execution of work, and misappropriation of funds.

He asked what problem the Congress had with mobile tracking and GPS-based monitoring.

He cited cases where payments were made in the names of 80-year-old workers, old works were shown as new bills, and money was siphoned off in the name of Dalit women entitled to 100 days of work.

"During Siddaramaiah's first term as the Karnataka Chief Minister, no action was taken in such cases," he alleged.

Thousands of such examples exist, he said, asking why transparency and reform were being opposed.

Rajya Sabha MP Lehar Singh Siroya, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai, Legislative Council member Bharathi Shetty, and Scheduled Tribe Morcha state party president Bangaru Hanumanthu were present.

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