MGNREGA protest: Karnataka to name village panchayat offices after Gandhi, says Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state President D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday announced that around 6,000 village panchayat offices would be named after Mahatma Gandhi. 

“This is a decision of the Congress party,” he said.

Speaking at the ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo – Mahatma Gandhi MGNREGA Bachao Sangharsha’ protest programme held at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Shivakumar said that KPCC Vice-President V.S. Ugrappa and other party office-bearers had written to him on the matter and a representation had been made to the Chief Minister.

“Through this, we will ensure that Mahatma Gandhi’s name is preserved permanently. Gandhiji envisioned that every village should have a school, a cooperative society and a panchayat,” he said.

He said the Congress was fighting for the employment rights of the poor.

“Employment was provided to those without jobs by the Manmohan Singh government under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. The world had taken note of our employment guarantee scheme. The World Bank had praised the scheme in 2013 as one of the best. There are 5,700 panchayats in the state, and every year about Rs 6,000 crore is spent under this scheme,” he said.

“Earlier, panchayats used to decide which development works should be taken up. Those who were hesitant to work as labourers on others’ land were given the opportunity to earn wages by working on their own land. Under Sonia Gandhi’s direction, then Union Minister C.P. Joshi designed this scheme. Such a historic decision was taken by the UPA government. Wages were paid for constructing Ashraya houses, Indira Awas houses, cattle sheds and for agriculture-related works,” he said.

He said the scheme was implemented as a mass movement.

“The Centre used to provide 90 per cent of the funds. For works involving materials such as iron and cement, the state government had to contribute 25 per cent. Around 7,000 supervisory jobs were created under this scheme. The BJP has changed Mahatma Gandhi’s name and given a new form to the Act. Under the new law, the Centre has to bear 60 per cent and the state 40 per cent of the cost. We are holding a special session to discuss this issue and will debate it for two days. Let us see what BJP leaders have to say,” he said.

“There was information that BJP leaders were staging a protest by sitting in front of the Gandhi statue. BJP leaders have lost the right to sit before the Gandhi statue. You are no longer worthy of keeping Gandhiji’s portrait in your offices. Gandhiji was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, and now the BJP and NDA government are killing him again. You cannot erase his name,” Shivakumar said.

“NREGA is a scheme meant for the upliftment of villages. The BJP is spreading the disease of unemployment across the country. Down with the BJP’s hatred towards Gandhi. We will never allow NREGA to be scrapped. We do not want VB Gram Ji; we want Gandhi. Even if the police arrest us today, we will not step back. Even if we have to go to jail, we are prepared. Our struggle will continue until the NREGA scheme is restored, just as the Centre was forced to withdraw the farm laws,” he said.

Referring to his own constituency, Shivakumar said, “In my Kanakapura constituency, development works worth Rs 200 crore are carried out every year using funds from this scheme. Because of this, the taluk has secured the top position in effective implementation. The Centre ordered an investigation, suspecting that D.K. Shivakumar had misappropriated funds under this scheme. Later, after seeing our work, they themselves gave us an award,” he said.

“Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders should come for a discussion; I am ready. It has been 20 years since the scheme was implemented. Your own government has been in power for the last 11 years. If there were irregularities in the scheme, what were you doing all these years? We have taken action wherever irregularities were found in our panchayats. If a few individuals commit mistakes, is it right to change the entire scheme? Is it correct to cut one’s nose to spite the face?” he asked.

He alleged that the BJP-led Central government had withheld MGNREGA funds. “The implementation of the Centre’s new scheme is not possible even in BJP-ruled states. NDA ally and leader CM Chandrababu Naidu himself has raised objections and said that the scheme cannot be implemented. If the BJP-led Centre does not withdraw the new law, the government will face serious consequences. Chandrababu Naidu has sounded a warning bell,” he said.

“The Central government is snatching away the rights of farmers, workers and panchayats. Our fight is against this. In the coming days, a five-kilometre padayatra will be organised at the taluk level in every panchayat, involving NREGA workers. The padayatra will be led by district in-charge ministers, MLAs and MLCs,” Shivakumar said.