'MGNREGA Bachao Sangram' reaching 2.5 lakh gram panchayats: Congress

New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) The Congress said on Tuesday that its 'MGNREGA Bachao Sangram' is reaching 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats, accusing the Union government of letting loose a bulldozer on the rural job schemes of the UPA-era.

Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Sabha MP MP and Congress General Secretary Communications In-charge, in a message on social media platform X, said, "The Union government has run a bulldozer over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, which has become the lifeline for crores of people in India."

Urging people to join the Congress' protest against the replacement of MGNREGA with Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB — G RAM G) Act, Ramesh said, "This nationwide struggle is... for the restoration of the constitutional rights to work, to wages, and to accountability. Join this movement too."

The Congress leader's X account also ran a live counter indicating, in real time, the number of people joining the struggle.

Till Tuesday afternoon, as many as 30,177 people had joined the campaign by giving a missed call.

The 'Sangram' launched by the Congress follows a decision by the party President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to take the issue to the people and mount pressure on the Union government to reverse its decision -- like in the case of the farm laws that were forced to be withdrawn.

Rahul Gandhi claimed the VB-G RAM G Act was rushed through the Parliament without adequate scrutiny and debate.

He described MGNREGA as the most successful poverty alleviation programme, and said that he and the Congress will not let the Narendra Modi-led Union government destroy the rural poor's last line of defence.

"We will stand with workers, panchayats, and states to defeat this move and build a nationwide front to ensure this law is withdrawn," he said in a hard-hitting social media post.

Taking exception to the "hurried" passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill through both the Houses of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Narendra Modi government demolished 20 years of MNREGA in just one day and also questioned the "anti-state and anti-village" design of the new scheme, which is set to replace the UPA-era MGNREGA.

--IANS