New Delhi, Mar 29 : Reiterating its charge that the BJP is ‘anti-poor’, the Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not just mocking the NYAY scheme proposed by the grand old party but also squeezing funds under the MGNREGA.
Talking to reporters here, AICC spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said,’’PM Modi and his ministers are mocking the NYAY scheme but have quietly squeezed funds meant for wages under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
Under the MGNREGA, Modi Government has given a measly increase of 2.16 per cent as average annual wage hike for 2019-20— which is the lowest ever .
NREGA labourers in six states and Union territories will see no annual increase in their daily wages this financial year. It has not released any funds for wage hikes for the states of – Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal
NREG workers in another 15 states will get a daily wage hike of between Re 1 and Rs 5.’’
She said that in a direct assault on rural labourers, Modi Govt squarely rejected the expert Mahendra Dev panel report that recommended bringing NREGA wages on par with the minimum state agricultural wages and then indexing it to Consumer Protection Price (Rural) for annual revision.
‘’The Modi Government also junked a second committee under Additional Secretary Nagesh Singh. This panel did not insist on aligning the base NREGA wages with minimum wages but ruled that the annual wage revision must be linked to CPI-Rural,’’she said.
Slamming the BJP for making fun of the ‘NYAY’ scheme, she said that since the day Congres announced NYAY (minimum income scheme) it is facig criticism from the BJP leaders who earlier talked of working for the poor , however, seemed only interested in benefitting their business firends.
Referring to an NSS report regarding people seeking jobs under the MNREGA scheme , she said that this year the number was the highest, the people who were looking for jobs due to unemployment in the rural sector.
She further alleged that senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari called Nyay a ‘jumla’.
She Congress spokesperson further accused the BJP government for being busy in their campaigns and promotion s in the times of economic distress , especially in the rural, Agrarian sector.
She said that 40 per cent of the area in the country is reeling under drought conditions, of which 16-17 per cent is under severe conditions.
‘’From Gujarat and Maharashtra, through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the dismal South-West and North-East monsoons of 2018 have triggered yet another drought across the country. But the Modi Government has provided absolutely no respite to the farmers who are facing this scorching drought.
Average income of an agri-household is just Rs 8,931 per month as per NABARD’s latest survey. Farm Gate prices have fallen at the lowest levels in the past 20 years,’’she said.
UNI.
