New Delhi, Jan 10 (NationPress) The Congress party has initiated a well-organized national campaign aimed at countering what it describes as the erosion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The party plans to mobilize significantly across various states, seeking resolutions from over 2.5 lakh gram sabhas advocating for the restoration of the original right-to-work legislation. This movement will kick off with statewide protests starting Saturday in several states, including Uttarakhand and Bihar.

As it ramps up its efforts, the Congress is gearing up for one of its most extensive grassroots mobilizations in recent years to oppose alterations to the MGNREGA framework.

Party officials claim that the central government has compromised the rural employment guarantee by diminishing the authority of gram panchayats, especially their ability to define the nature of work and distribute employment. The Congress argues that this undermines the Act’s fundamental promise of granting rural households a legal right to request employment when required.

In Uttarakhand, the party has declared a statewide protest against what it refers to as the substitution of MNREGA with the Viksit Bharat G Ram G Rural Act.

The decision was made during a meeting of the Political Affairs Committee, led by Kumari Selja, the Uttarakhand Congress in-charge, at a hotel on Rajpur Road in Dehradun.

On January 10, the Congress will host district-level press conferences across Uttarakhand to shed light on the implications of the new framework and juxtapose it with the employment guarantees ensured by MNREGA. Congress leaders assert that these changes will negatively impact rural livelihoods and diminish decentralized governance.

In Bihar, the Congress is set to kick off a ‘Save MNREGA’ campaign, targeting what it labels the Modi government’s anti-MNREGA policies. Party members will conduct outreach efforts from village to village to inform rural citizens.

According to leaders, the campaign will encompass both grassroots mobilization and legislative advocacy, with the party poised to elevate the issue from local protests to discussions in the state Assembly.

Insiders from the Congress note that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has directed all state units to take the agitation deep into rural regions. A crucial aspect of the campaign is to ensure that over 2.5 lakh gram sabhas across the nation pass resolutions calling for the reinstatement of the original provisions of MNREGA.

Previously, on Friday, the Congress initiated the ‘MNREGA Bachao Sangram’ in Jammu, spearheaded by AICC General Secretary and Jammu & Kashmir in-charge MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain, alongside Tariq Hameed Karra, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee.

This event, held at the Kashmir Hills Resort in Jammu, attracted participation from senior party figures, current and former legislators, ex-ministers, district presidents, office-bearers from frontal organizations, block presidents, and party workers. This turnout signals the party's commitment to launch a sustained national protest to protect MNREGA.