CM Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar court arrest protesting against MGNREGA scrapping
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with party legislators and MPs, were on Tuesday taken into preventive custody after they decided to march towards Lok Bhavan as part of "Raj Bhavan Chalo" protest.
The protest was against the Centre's move to replace MGNREGA with VB-G RAM G.
The Congress leaders were stopped by police when they attempted to proceed towards Lok Bhavan, alleging that the Union government was dismantling the rural employment guarantee framework and curtailing the rights of Panchayats.
The leaders boarded a bus deployed by the police outside the venue after delivering their speech and courted arrest.
Addressing protesters before being detained, Siddaramaiah said this 'Ram' in VB-G RAM G is not Dasharath Ram or Seeta Ram. It stands for Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajivika Mission (Gramin).
He said MGNREGA was a right to livelihood and employment, introduced by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, and accused the Centre of trying to destroy it.
"MGNREGA was the right of the people, but not any more. Around five crore people, including the differently-abled, were getting employment in the rural areas. The Centre now wants to decide what work should be done, whereas earlier it was done by Panchayats," Siddaramaiah alleged, adding that the role of Panchayats had been severely curtailed.
The chief minister further claimed that each Panchayat was earlier getting around Rs one crore. Now they will be deprived of it.
"We will fight until VB-G RAM G is revoked and MGNREGA is re-established. VB-G RAM G does not guarantee employment the way MGNREGA did," he said.
Accusing the BJP of attacking rural India, Siddaramaiah said, "Gandhiji said unless villages develop, the nation cannot develop. By scrapping MGNREGA, the BJP has killed Mahatma Gandhi once again."
He called upon people for agitation in every village across the state.
Surjewala, who is also Karnataka in-charge, alleged that the Centre was bent on scrapping the rural employment guarantee scheme. "The Union government wants to dismantle MGNREGA. I urge the Karnataka government to rename Panchayat centres as 'Mahatma Gandhi Kendra'."
Shivakumar warned of political consequences for the BJP, saying, "By scrapping MGNREGA, the BJP has invited trouble for itself. People in rural areas will not accept VB-G RAM G, and they will not pardon the BJP for repealing the employment guarantee law."
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With Bangladesh out of T20 WC, ICC reworking application process for its travelling media
New Delhi (PTI): The International Cricket Council is reworking the media accreditation process for Bangladesh journalists wishing to cover the T20 World Cup in India after the withdrawal of its national team citing security concerns in the neighbouring nation.
The ICC is changing the application process even as some of the Bangladesh journalists claimed that their accreditation request was rejected by the world body.
"There is a reworking of the process since there is a change in the number of requests and the schedules. The accreditation lists are being worked out accordingly.
"Some of the Bangladesh journalists, who showed interest in covering the tournament despite their team's withdrawal, have started getting approvals," ICC sources told PTI.
Roughly 80-90 Bangladeshi journalists applied for the media accreditation and, sources said, even if their team was participating in the ICC event, not all requests could be accommodated.
"If you go by the country quota, you can't exceed the number beyond 40. The ICC goes by the recommendations of the home board and accordingly takes a call on the applications," sources added.
In Dhaka, BCB media chairman Amjad Hossain said he has taken up the matter with the ICC.
"The decision came only yesterday and we have sought to know (the details). An explanation has been requested. This is an internal and confidential matter, but to summarise -- we wanted to know why this was done," Hossain told reporters in Dhaka.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Bangladeshi journalist said it was the first time his media accreditation was not approved.
"I have covered 8 to 9 ICC World Cups. This was the first time my application was rejected. We are awaiting clarity from BCB before reapplying," he said.
As per the ICC assessment, the Bangladesh cricket team did not face a security threat in India but the country's cricket board still decided to not travel to the country.
Subsequently, the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland for the tournament beginning on February 7.
