MGNREGA played saviour for millions during Covid: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act played a saviour for millions of Indians during the time of the Covid19 but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not ready to acknowledge the relief and security provided by the UPA governmentimplemented scheme to the hapless people of the countryCriticising PM Modi for describing the MGNREGA as one of the living monuments of the failures of the Congressled UPA he said the PM had not understood the depth of the mass employment scheme and he did know how it has transformed the labour market of the country and how it became the last resort and huge protection for lakhs of peopleAs the economy of the country was crippled due to demonetisation and faulty implementation of the GST the scheme has become even more important now to protect the livelihood of the common people the Wayanad MP saidHe was addressing a gathering of MGNREGA volunteers at Nenmeni a tribal dominated village panchayat in his Parliamentary constituency hereI was watching during Covid when thousands and thousands of people were left without jobs and MNREGA saved them Of course the PM did not comment about MNREGA then And he does not comment about MGNREGA anymore Gandhi saidBecause it became obvious that what he had called as the monument of the failure of the UPA was actually protecting India during the pandemic period he addedHe recalled the huge resistance put up by bureaucrats and others against the MGNREGA when the UPA government brought the scheme claiming that it was going to be a huge loss of moneyBut the idea was to build the country with dignity use our own people to build the nations infrastructure and ensure dignity of labour Gandhi saidIt was designed to protect our people and in no way it was a tool for charity he said adding that he was shocked to see Modi speak against MGNREGA in Parliament and call it as a living monument of the failures of the UPA governmentPointing out that the rural employment guarantee scheme was only one part of the solution he said the economy of the country and the creation of jobs are the engines of the programme and if they are not working properly the MGNREGA would become uselessIt requires harmony in society These are some of the challenges being faced by the countrywe should work unitedly to resolve this he saidCalling the MGNREGA employees as the builders of the nation he also criticised the media for not giving adequate space or priority to their workThe media talks about cricket and Hollywood but was not giving enough priority to the exemplary work showcased by ordinary employees Gandhi addedHe also urged the Centre to consider the requests of the people regarding the extension of the MGNREGA work to 200 days increase their daily wages to Rs 400 and expand the scheme to areas like paddy cultivationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever