Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 30 : The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief YS Sharmila Reddy announced that Congress will launch a statewide Upaadi Haami Parirakshana Yatra from February 2 to safeguard the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), according to a press release.
The yatra will commence from Bandlapalle, where the employment guarantee programme was first introduced exactly two decades ago, and will cover all districts of Andhra Pradesh. YS Sharmila Reddy said she will personally participate in the yatra across the state to mobilise rural workers and villagers.
Addressing the media on Thursday, the APCC chief described MGNREGA as one of India's most significant welfare legislations and a global role model, noting that Andhra Pradesh played a pioneering role in its successful implementation under the late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
She recalled that the state served as the pilot for the scheme and that YSR ensured transparency, elimination of middlemen, direct wage payments into bank accounts, strong social audits, and decision-making through Gram Sabhas. "The cheme strengthened village economies, improved infrastructure, and gave dignity and confidence to rural workers," the release stated.
YS Sharmila Reddy accused the BJP-led central government of systematically weakening MGNREGA through the proposed "VB Gram G" framework. She alleged that replacing demand-based employment with a notification-based system amounts to destroying the legal right to work, restricting employment to select villages, and handing control to contractors. She also criticised the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme, calling it an ideological attack on Gandhi's legacy.
She further noted that while MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of work per household, the BJP government has provided only an average of 52 days, calling claims of higher employment misleading. Sharmila Reddy warned that reducing the Centre's funding share to 60 per cent while pushing 40 per cent onto states would cripple the scheme, especially in debt-ridden states like Andhra Pradesh, resulting in unemployment and migration.
Questioning Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu's support for the VB Gram G Bill, she called it a betrayal of the state's interests. Sharmila Reddy demanded the immediate withdrawal of VB Gram G, continuation of MGNREGA in its original spirit, and an increase in daily wages to Rs. 400, asserting that the yatra will defend workers' rights and village self-governance.