Parallel job scheme on hold, Siddaramaiahgovt to fight Centre on VB-G RAM G | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: A day after the state cabinet condemned the Union govt’s decision to repeal MGNREGA and replace it with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), CM Siddaramaiah and deputy CM D K Shivakumar on Saturday indicated Karnataka has no immediate plans to launch a parallel rural employment scheme.Officials said the decision followed after senior bureaucrats cautioned that the state could lose a substantial share of central funding, with the Centre’s contribution under the new framework reduced to 60%, compared to 90% under MGNREGA.Addressing a joint press conference, the two leaders announced a political and public campaign against the Centre, demanding that the new law be scrapped and MGNREGA restored. “Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse and is now being symbolically killed by the Centre,” Siddaramaiah said.The CM accused the Union govt of dismantling a rights-based law that guaranteed employment to the rural poor. “The NDA govt has repealed MGNREGA, which allowed poor and vulnerable sections, especially women and small farmers, to demand work in their villages,” he said, alleging that the new law centralises decision-making by giving the Centre powers to decide where works will be taken up.Siddaramaiah said the Congress and the state govt would roll out an action plan immediately. “The Congress, along with labourers, the public and like-minded groups, will fight until the VB-G RAM G Act is withdrawn, as was done in the case of the farm laws,” he said.He alleged the new legislation has three major consequences — erosion of livelihood rights of vulnerable sections, strips panchayats of their powers, and imposes an added financial burden on states without consultation. He claimed the law was rushed through Parliament, introduced on Dec 17 and passed the next day, without adequate debate or federal consultation, undermining decentralised governance by diluting the statutory role of gram sabhas and panchayats.Highlighting the scale of MGNREGA, Siddaramaiah said about 12.1 crore workers are enrolled across the country, including 6.2 crore women, who form nearly 54% of the workforce. In Karnataka alone, he said, there are 71.1 lakh active workers, of whom over half are women. He objected to the revised wage-sharing pattern, under which the Centre would now bear only 60% of wages, calling it unconstitutional and contrary to the federal structure.The CM said he has written to PM Narendra Modi urging the Centre to withdraw the VB-G RAM G Act, restore MGNREGA, and reinstate the rights of panchayats and gram sabhas. Deputy CM D K Shivakumar backed Siddaramaiah’s position, stating “BJP leaders have lost the moral right to speak about Gandhiji. They have not even retained the eligibility to keep Mahatma Gandhi’s photograph in their offices or hold protests in front of his statue,” The CM and DCM sserted that Karnataka would continue to oppose the VB-G RAM G Act pressing for the restoration of MGNREGA in its original form.
