Congress tells Modi to double MNREGA job days to 200
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday asked the Centre to scale up MNREGA and expand the number of days of work under the scheme to 200 from the current guaranteed 100 days of employment for rural workers for the next six months to a year to offset the devastating economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Please consider expanding employment under MNREGA to 200 days. The Bihar government has also demanded such a thing. Those employed may be paid in advance for 10 days which can then be adjusted with the payment for the rest of the days,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said at a virtual press conference.
“We demand MNREGA in its content, reach, boundaries be scaled up as it has proved to be the closest glove that fits the hand of COVID distress. The PM should forget his words have come back to haunt him, that COVID marks clear negation of whatever the PM and the BJP said about MNREGA,” Singhvi said, adding that employment be provided to people within four to five kilometres of their houses.
Asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to take the remarks in an adversarial spirit, the Congress leader said, “Please consider how much good you can do to the nation through this scheme. Don't take our remarks in an adversarial spirit. In May 2020, 2.19 crore households benefited from this scheme, the highest for May in eight years.”
The Congress spokesperson also said that there is a need to ensure that states that are grossly lagging need to push MNREGA and cited examples of Haryana and Gujarat.
However, the senior Congress leader also warned that the aftermath of the COVID19 pandemic will last many months and alleged that numbers of employment under MNREGA are fudged.
“Innovation of MGNREGA was that the statutory right to get work on demand was created i.e. work for up to 100 days couldn't be denied upon demand. Sadly people are fudging figures as 50-75 days is being passed off as 100. This is deplorable, the government should punish all culprits,” he said.