MPs write to PM Modi, ask him to prioritise strengthening MGNREGA

The letter states how the MGNREGA is being “systematically undermined” by the Modi government despite public statements promising job creation.

MPs writes to PM Modi, ask him to prioritise strengthening MGNREGA

The letter also asks that MGNREGA funds should be both adequate and timely and that MGNREGA wages should not be less than the statutory minimum wage of the state. (file)

A few Members of Parliament from the Congress and the left parties, activists, and academicians have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to “make the strengthening of MGNREGA an urgent priority” of his government”.

Stating how the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGA) is being “systematically undermined” by the Modi government despite public statements promising job creation, the letter, which was released on Friday, states, “Illegal restrictions on its budget allocation, severe payment delays and low wages are crippling the program and depriving people in distress of one of their most important legally supported structures. Therefore, we urge you to make the strengthening of MGNREGA an urgent priority of your government and formally include it as part of the set of measures being considered to deal with the current rural and agrarian crisis.”

It also asks that MGNREGA funds should be both adequate and timely and that MGNREGA wages should not be less than the statutory minimum wage of the state. The list of demands in the letter includes proper calculation of delayed payment compensation, increasing MGNREGA legal entitlement in all drought notified districts to 200 days from the existing 150 days, and ensuring the every gram panchayat has at least one labour intensive public work available at all times.

Signatories to the letter include, among others, Congress MPs Deepender Singh Hooda, Digvijay Singh, Karan Singh Yadav , Swaraj India’s Yogendra Yadav, CPI (M) leaders Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury, MLAs Jignesh Mevani , Prithviraj Chavan (Former Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra), Syeda Hameed (Former Member Planning Commission), Jayati Ghosh (Professor, Jawahar Lal Nehru University), Aruna Roy (National Federation of Indian Women), Nikhil Dey (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), and Prabhat Patnaik (JNU Emeritus Professor).

Nikhil Dey said that of the Rs 48,000 crore allotted for the scheme at the start of the financial year, about one per cent i.e. Rs 500 crore is all that is left. “Many states are already in negative balance and we have three months left. We pulled out figures of difference between registered demand and work given and that is about 32 per cent, that too after suppressing the demand. Actually, they should be giving unemployment allowance in such cases,” he said

The letter adds: “As Members of Parliament who participated in ensuring the unanimous passage of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Parliament and supporters of the programme, it is our duty to ensure that the law is protected and is serving the best interests of the rural poor, particularly at a time of such severe distress. …We call upon you to take swift, sensitive and timely action and demonstrate the strong political will to protect the legal entitlement of millions of rural workers across the country.”

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