Sonia Gandhi demands Rs 400 minimum wage, 150 workdays under MGNREGA
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Centre of systematically undermining of the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA, and demanded raising of minimum wage under it to Rs 400 per day and the number of guaranteed workdays to 150 a year.
Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said the UPA government under then prime minister Manmohan Singh enacted the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005.
"This landmark legislation has been a crucial safety net for millions of rural poor. However, it is deeply concerning that the present BJP government has systematically undermined the scheme," Sonia Gandhi said.
The budget allocation (for the scheme) remains stagnant at Rs 86,000 crore, a 10-year low as a percentage of GDP, she alleged.
When adjusted for inflation, the effective budget declines by Rs 4,000 crore, she said, adding that estimates suggest nearly 20 per cent of the allocated funds will be used to clear pending dues from previous years.
"Additionally, the scheme faces multiple challenges, including the exclusionary Aadhaar-based payment and the National Mobile Monitoring System, persistent delays in wage payment and wage rates not adequate to compensate for inflation," she claimed.
The National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app permits taking real-time attendance of workers at MGNREGA worksites along with geotagged photographs.
The Congress leader demanded that adequate financial provisions be made to sustain and expand the scheme.
Also, the minimum wage should be increased to Rs 400 per day along with their timely disbursement, she said, adding that the number of guaranteed workdays should be raised from 100 to 150 per year.
The Central government had increased MGNREGA wages by 3-10 per cent in nominal terms for the financial year 2024-25 just before general elections were announced last year.
The wages vary from state to state and are in the range of Rs 237 (Uttrakhand) to Rs 300 (Andhra Pradesh) a day.
Demanding the removal of the Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS) and NMMS, Sonia said, "These measures are essential to ensure that MGNREGA provides dignified employment and financial security."
This was only the second time that Sonia Gandhi raised an issue during the Zero Hour -- an hour where matters are raised with the permission of the Chair -- since she was elected to the Rajya Sabha in February last year.
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Karnataka legislative session to focus on leadership row, farmers’ issues, flood relief
Belagavi (PTI): The 10-day winter session of the Karnataka Legislature, starting December 8 here, is expected to focus on the Congress leadership tussle, farmers’ grievances, and flood relief.
The unified opposition of the BJP and JD(S) has drawn up a strategy to corner the ruling Congress on multiple issues.
BJP leaders have announced plans to move a no-confidence motion following the leadership row between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
Siddaramaiah has asserted that he will complete the full five-year term, while Shivakumar has claimed he was promised the chief ministership midway through the Congress government’s tenure.
The power tussle intensified after the government completed two-and-a-half years on November 20.
Following a war of words on social media, the two leaders later presented a united front through ‘breakfast diplomacy’. However, the fight is far from over, as the party's high command held a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the issue in detail.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told reporters in Delhi on Saturday that the party had discussed Karnataka and that further meetings are expected. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said on Thursday that the government has not received any notice of a no-confidence motion from the opposition.
Farmers’ protests have given the opposition additional ammunition to target the government.
About a month ago, sugarcane growers staged an unprecedented strike, blocking roads to demand Rs 3,500 per tonne against the state government’s offer of Rs 3,200 per tonne.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought the Centre’s intervention, citing flaws in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), which remains frozen at Rs 31 per kilogram, leaving mills unable to pay farmers.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revise the sugar MSP, ensure mills can pay farmers, provide assured ethanol offtake for Karnataka distilleries, and issue a central notification for handling and transportation costs to enable transparent, farmer-friendly pricing.
To calm the agitating farmers, the state government offered an additional Rs 100 per tonne, shared equally by the state and mills, raising the net cane price to Rs 3,200-3,300 per tonne.
After the sugarcane strike, maize growers have also protested, demanding procurement at Rs 3,000 per quintal.
The current MSP is Rs 2,400 per quintal, and farmers are seeking a Rs 600 bonus. Ahead of the session, the state government announced increasing maize procurement from 20 quintals per farmer to 50 quintals at Rs 2,400 per quintal.
The session will also see the tabling of 21 bills, including measures to check hate speech and hatred crimes, a law against misinformation, the Daily Wage Employees Welfare (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill.
Other key bills include the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Categorisation in Reservation) Bill, the Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Apartment Ownership (Regulation) Bill.
Law and order issues may also come up during the session in light of recent incidents of robbery and dacoity across the state.
