Amritsar (Punjab) [India], January 8 : Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday said his party will hold multiple rallies and programs across the state under the banner of 'MNREGA Sangram' while informing people about the "injustice" done to them.
"We will hold programs and rallies in every corner of Punjab under the name of this struggle and inform the people about the injustice that the BJP and AAP have done to them," Warring told ANI.
He said that the campaign to 'Save Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)' has kicked off in Punjab from Amritsar today and will be carried out in villages across many districts.
The Punjab Congress chief added that the newly introduced Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act will shut down the MNREGA scheme, which would lead to "loss of livelihoods" for the rural poor.
"This program has been launched by the AICC. The CWC decided that we would reach out to the poor across the country under the banner of 'MNREGA Sangram' (MNREGA Struggle). This is because the new law that has been introduced will effectively shut down the MNREGA scheme. The poor will lose their livelihoods, and their work will stop. Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh had introduced the MNREGA scheme for the poor," Warring said.
"Previously, work was provided based on demand, but now the central government will decide how much money they will allocate to the states under MNREGA and how much work will be done," he added.
On Saturday, Congress announced a nationwide three-phase agitation titled "MGNREGA Bachao", after the Centre's newly enacted VB-G RAM G Act.
Addressing a press conference at the party's office in New Delhi, Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh accused the centre of attempting to centralise the employment guarantee scheme and acting arbitrarily.
Venugopal said the CWC had finalised the future strategy on MGNREGA and approved a structured campaign titled "MGNREGA Bachao Sangram".