Special cabinet meet on G RAM G today as Cong plans to step up MNREGA stir

Bengaluru: The govt will hold a special cabinet meeting Wednesday to decide whether to call a special two-day session of the legislature to debate the Centre's Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (G-RAM-G) Act. The new Act will replace the popular Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Addressing a preparatory meeting on an agitation titled ‘Save Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Scheme', deputy CM DK Shivakumar, also state congress president, Tuesday said the cabinet will discuss the prospect of reinstating MGNREGA and examine what he described as "drawbacks" of the Centre's new law.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah, who also participated in the meeting, urged party workers to intensify protests "until MNREGA was restored and G-RAM-G Act repealed". Shivakumar instructed party workers to hold demonstrations in all district and taluk centres from Jan 26 to Feb 7. The movement, he said, should extend from village to state-level, and party workers should sustain the struggle on the lines of the farmers' agitation in north India. He said padayatras covering 5-10km will be organised in all assembly seats on Jan 26. Gram panchayat members, party functionaries, MLAs and ministers will participate, and memoranda seeking reimplementation of MNREGA would be submitted at taluk offices. "I will personally participate in marches in five places, including one in Shikaripura (Shivamogga)," he said. Siddaramaiah said that under G-RAM-G, states would have to bear 40% of the cost, which means Karnataka would need to spend around Rs 2,500 crore. He said this was the reason for the ‘MNREGA Bachao' movement, which should now be transformed into a people's movement. Siddaramaiah said more than 12 crore workers across the country were employed under MNREGA, including over 6.2 crore women. He alleged that the Centre was "allergic to the name Mahatma Gandhi" and had replaced it with Ram. "This is not Dasharath Ram or Sita Ram, or Kausalya Ram. This is Nathuram who killed Mahatma Gandhi. They are killing Gandhi again," he said. Shivakumar said even BJP-governed states would find it difficult to implement G-RAM-G because of the financial burden. "BJP killed Gandhi and now they have killed his name," he said. "They have lost the right to protest in front of Gandhi's statue. They have lost the right to even mention Gandhi's name."