Demolition of MGNREGA to have catastrophic consequences: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI): Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the "demolition" of the historic Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will have catastrophic consequences for crores of people across rural India and called upon all to unite and safeguard the rights that protect everyone.
In an editorial in 'The Hindu' titled "The bulldozed demolition of MGNREGA", the former Congress chief said the "death" of MGNREGA is a collective failure.
This comes a day after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which replaces the MGNREGA and has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.
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"MGNREGA realised the Mahatma's vision of Sarvodaya (welfare of all) and enacted the constitutional right to work," Gandhi said.
"It is imperative, now more than ever, to unite and safeguard the rights that protect us all," she added.
Gandhi said the employment guarantee scheme to deal with rural distress has now been "bulldozed and demolished".
MGNREGA was a rights-based legislation inspired by Article 41 of the Constitution of India, which calls upon the government to secure citizens' right to work, she said.
"Over the past few days, the Narendra Modi government worked to bulldoze MGNREGA's abolition without any discussion, consultation, or respect for parliamentary processes or Centre-State relations. The removal of the Mahatma's name was only the tip of the iceberg. The very structure of MGNREGA, so integral to its impact, has been annihilated," she said.
She described VB-G RAM G as "nothing but a set of bureaucratic provisions".
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The Modi government's new Bill has restricted the ambit of the scheme to rural areas as notified by the Union at its discretion, Gandhi said.
Against uncapped central allocation, there is now a pre-determined budgetary allocation that caps the number of days of employment provided in each state. The number of workdays provided are, therefore, left to the Centre's priorities rather than the people's needs, she said, adding that the all-year guarantee of employment has been finished off.
Gandhi said one of the greatest impacts of MGNREGA was increased bargaining power of the landless poor in rural India, which elevated agricultural wages.
"This bargaining power will definitely be eroded under the new law. The Modi government is attempting to suppress wage growth and that too at a time when the proportion of employment in agriculture has risen for the first time since Independence, contrary to what should have been the case," she noted.
She also said by transferring a significant portion of the expense onto the states, the Modi government is discouraging them from providing work under the scheme. The finances of states, already under severe stress and strain, will be further devastated, the Congress leader said.
Under the VB-G RAM G Bill, the cost-sharing pattern is 60:40 between the Centre and states, 90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 100 per cent central funding for Union territories without legislatures.
Gandhi further said that aside from demolishing the demand-based nature of the programme, the Modi government has ended the decentralised nature of the scheme.
"The Modi government is resorting to fraudulent claims that it has enhanced the employment guarantee from 100 days (under MGNREGA) to 125 days. For all the reasons outlined above, that will certainly not be the case. Indeed, the real nature of the Modi government's intentions can be understood from its decade-long track record of throttling MGNREGA.
"It began with the Prime Minister's (in)famous mocking of the scheme on the floor of the House and proceeded apace through a 'death by a thousand cuts' strategy through, for instance, stagnant budgets, the use of disenfranchising technology and delayed payments to workers," she said in the article.
Gandhi said the demolition of the right to work must not be seen in isolation but as part of the long assault by the ruling establishment on the Constitution and its right-based vision for the country.
"The most fundamental right to vote is under unprecedented assault. The Right to Information has been desecrated with legislative changes that weaken the autonomy of Information Commissioners, and by wholesale exemptions from the Act for ill-defined 'personal information data," she said.
The Right to Education has been undermined and The Forest Rights Act, 2006, was markedly weakened by the Forest (Conservation) Rules (2022), which removed the gram sabha from any role in permitting the diversion of forest land, the Congress leader said, adding that The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 has been significantly diluted.
"Through the three black farm laws, the government attempted to deny farmers the right to a minimum support price. The National Food Security Act, 2013, may very well be next on the chopping block," Gandhi said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
