Scrap VB- G RAM G, restore MGNREGA, says Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday demanded that the Centre abolish the VB–GRAMG scheme and restore the MGNREGA saying the "repeal" had taken away the constitutional right to work of Dalits, tribals, women, small farmers and rural labourers, besides undermining the powers of elected panchayats.
Moving a resolution in the Karnataka Assembly, the Chief Minister said, "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act must be restored along with people's right to employment, panchayat autonomy under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment and a minimum wage of Rs 400," and sought that a copy of the resolution be sent to the Centre.
He said the latest rural employment scheme VB–G RAM G should be scrapped in its entirety, arguing that it would lead to increased unemployment, reduced participation of women and greater pressure on Dalit and tribal families.
"When an important law was repealed and a new one was introduced, everyone's view was important. MGNREGA was repealed and VB–GRAMG was introduced without discussing with the states," Siddaramaiah alleged.
He pointed out that under MGNREGA. 12.16 crore people in rural areas were getting 100 days' job. If someone applied for a job, then he or she was given it. If not a job, then at least money was given under the previous employment guarantee scheme.
He further said women constituted 53.61 per cent of the workforce under MGNREGA, while 28 per cent belonged to SC/ST communities.
He warned that these sections are now rendered jobless.
According to Siddaramaiah, MGNREGA was a demand-based guarantee that prevented distress migration, unlike VB–GRAMG, under which the Centre would decide the nature of work, notify villages and release funds, leaving gram panchayats with no role.
Slamming the BJP MLAs who were objecting to his explanation, he said, "study VB–GRAMG first and then come for debate. You have passed the Act and you don't read it..(it) is unfair."
Siddaramaiah pointed out that Karnataka had 71.18 lakh rural labourers, more than 51 per cent of them women, and alleged that new restrictions would halt work during agricultural seasons for 60 days.
He said contractors, who were banned under MGNREGA, had now been allowed to take up large works, while wage parity and year-round employment were no longer guaranteed.
He also objected to the Centre sharing only 60 per cent of wage costs, with states bearing 40 per cent, at a time when the latter were facing fund crunch.
He said successive BJP chief ministers, including B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, had earlier praised MGNREGA, noting that 31.14 lakh families and 59.13 lakh individuals had benefited in a year, creating 13.24 crore person-days of work with Rs 3,769 crore paid as wages.
"After lauding it, this Act was abolished," he said, alleging that villagers had begun migrating again in search of work.
When BJP MLAs objected and sought elaboration, the CM asked the Speaker U T Khader to act against members disrupting his speech under Rule 347, remarking, "we too know how to do satire and create disturbance during your speech."
He described V B–GRAM G as "deadly for villages," adding, "I forget its full form because it is far from rural life."
Responding to an intervention by BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar that the Centre had given six months' time for implementation, Siddaramaiah said Presidential assent had already been granted and the law notified without consulting states.
He alleged the scheme was inspired by "Manusmriti," claiming it was not intended to financially empower women, Dalits, tribals and small farmers, and accused the RSS of guiding the BJP.
Reiterating his demands, Siddaramaiah said MGNREGA must be restored, VB–G RAM G abolished, panchayat rights returned and the cost-sharing formula scrapped, asserting that repealing MGNREGA amounted to insulting Mahatma Gandhi and taking away the rights of the rural poor.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
