Marking a significant escalation in its rural outreach, the Indian National Congress has unveiled the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram,’ a coast-to-coast movement to halt the decline of the iconic employment guarantee program. Launched with fanfare in over 600 districts, it’s a clarion call against fiscal starvation and bureaucratic sabotage.
Workers’ tales dominate the narrative—from Andhra villages where ponds remain half-dug to Jharkhand hamlets awaiting wages from 2022. Congress alleges a deliberate plot: funds diverted, Aadhaar-linked hurdles added, and work sites audited to paralysis. Government reports confirm over Rs 15,000 crore in pending liabilities, a ticking time bomb for trust.
The multi-pronged assault features cycle rallies, wall writings, and social media storms under #SaveMGNREGA. Demands are crisp: full budgeting at 1% of GDP, 15-day payment norms, and women’s quota enforcement. In Kerala, fisherfolk joined, linking coastal erosion works to the scheme’s survival.
This comes amid broader economic woes—rural consumption down, farm incomes stagnant. Congress frames it as a fight for dignity, not just jobs, invoking Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant villages.
Skeptics call it opportunistic, timed for state polls, but the groundswell is real. With allies pitching in, the Sangram could pressure policy shifts. In the end, it’s a bet on people’s memory of better days under UPA, versus today’s realities.