HT Correspondent
KHERONI, Jan 10: The West Karbi Anglong District Congress has voiced strong opposition to the government’s decision to rename the MGNREGA scheme to VB-G RAM G, labelling the move as an attempt to erase the legacy of the Father of the Nation.
In a press conference at the Rongkhang Block Congress office at Dongkamukam, the District Congress leaders have hit out at the BJP, claiming that removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the flagship rural employment scheme is a deliberate political conspiracy.
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Mohan Rongpi, spokesperson for the APCC and West Karbi Anglong District Congress, delivered a stinging critique of the move said that after the physical assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948, the current government is attempting a “second assassination” by systematically removing his name from national identity and public memory.
“Renaming a scheme does not mean development. Real progress and change will only happen if the government initiates a high-level probe into corruption and puts an end to the practice of embezzling public funds,” said Mohan Rongpi.
The party alleged that the BJP is trying to make Mahatma Gandhi “invisible” in modern India.
Augustine Enghee, president, West Karbi Anglong District Committee stated that the MGNREGA was introduced by the then UPA government so that the “poor and marginalised” can have at least have employment for 100 days and “make a living.”
Attacking the BJP, Enghee said, “After the BJP came to power everything that stands for in the Constitution have been obliterated. The BJP is for the rich as it is on the way to cease the MGNREGA scheme for the poor.”
He claimed that changing the name of the scheme will increase unemployment in India as the marginalised will be exploited by not paying them Minimum wage.
The Congress leadership argued that changing the name of a scheme does not equate to actual development or progress on the ground. According to the party, true change will only be visible when the government addresses systemic issues.
The District Congress maintained that the focus should remain on transparency and the welfare of the rural poor rather than symbolic name changes that distance the nation from its historical roots.
