Hyderabad: Congress leaders and workers staged a protest in Hyderabad on Tuesday, condemning what they termed as systematic attempts by the BJP-led NDA Government to dilute the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Hyderabad DCC President accuses BJP-led NDA Govt of subverting guarantees
Speaking at the protest, Syed Khalid Saifullah alleged that the proposed restructuring of the scheme was undermining its core principles. He said the legal guarantee of employment was being converted into a discretionary benefit, where the Centre would decide which Gram Panchayats were eligible for work.
According to him, this shift would deprive rural families of their right to demand employment and reduce the programme to a centrally controlled handout, vulnerable to political and bureaucratic interference. He warned that such changes would weaken the scheme’s original intent of ensuring dignity and security for rural workers.
Khalid Saifullah further claimed that wage security would be severely affected. While the original Act ensured minimum wages with annual revisions and year-round work, the restructured model would fix wages arbitrarily, without any obligation for periodic revision. He added that suspending the scheme during the harvest season would leave landless labourers without income during crucial months.
