New Delhi [India], December 20 : Congress MP Kumari Selja on Saturday alleged that the Central government is attempting to "snatch away" the livelihood and jobs of poor people by replacing MGNREGA with VB-G RAM G Bill (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin))
The Congress MP emphasised the necessity of ensuring the right to work to eradicate poverty rather than implementing schemes that offer direct cash to the voters, citing the example of Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana in Bihar.
Speaking with ANI, Kumari Selja said, "Even today, this is the most successful program in the country for the poor. Sending Rs 10,000 to the poor's accounts does not eliminate their poverty. The poor need work. We had given them the right. Today, not only is there an attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhi's name, but there is also an effort to snatch away the poor's livelihood and jobs. We will fight for the poor."
Earlier, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey defended the VB-G RAM G Bill, questioning the Opposition's intention to provide aid to the poor.
"In this country, the responsibility of implementing the laws passed by Parliament lies with the states. The big question is whether they (the opposition) want to give money to the poor or not? Was there corruption in MNREGA or not? To stop corruption, we have said that without biometric payment will not be done. Secondly, we have said that there will be a Lokpal in every sector," Dubey said.
Reacting to the row over renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), he said that Mahatma Gandhi resides in everyone's hearts.
Dubey further said, "Mahatma Gandhi resides in everyone's hearts. When a debate was going on in the Constituent Assembly in 1948 and 49, then Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, then President Rajendra Prasad and former PM Nehru said that whenever any changes have to be brought in any scheme, then Mahatma Gandhi's name will not be used. In 1976, then PM Indira Gandhi took away the rights of the President. In the Constituent Assembly, it was said that the name of Mahatma Gandhi would not be used in the Constitution. When it cannot be used in the Constitution, how can it be used in any scheme?"
During the recently concluded winter session, the Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB--G RAM G) Bill, with the Rajya Sabha approving the legislation hours after the Lok Sabha passed it.
The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10.
Section 6 of the Bill allows the state governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting.