MGNREGA workers hit the streets against VB-GRAM(G); demand 200 days of work
Worker unions accuse the Centre of weakening MGNREGA through technological barriers and policy changes
Tens of lakhs of agricultural and rural workers joined the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Workers’ strike through protests, demonstrations, and memorandum submissions called by the Joint Platform of Agricultural and Rural Workers’ Unions and the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha across the country on Friday.
“The strike was most impactful in states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka”, the All India Workers’ Union said in a statement.
Various reports from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh indicated that agricultural and rural workers gathered to submit memorandums demanding a roll back of VB-GRAM(G) and to bring back a strengthened MGNREGA.
“This strike was a result of the anger accumulating amongst the MGNREGA workers over the years of mismanagement done in the MGNREGA by the BJP government since 2014. Since the BJP came to power, they made no effort in order to improve the deteriorating situation of MGNREGA or of the rural economy as a whole,” All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) General Secretray Vijoo Krishnan said.
The protestors also hit out at the introduction of “exclusionary technology” like the Aadhar-based payment system (ABPS), facial technology, geo tagging, and direct bank transfers, which they claimed, led to further exclusion of eligible workers from receiving work under the scheme.
“These technologies led to a deletion of crores of workers in just a few years. It was only recently realised that all the BJP created all these problems so that it could completely kill and bury MGNREGA and the final nail in the coffin was the Viksit Bharat- Guarantee for Rozgaar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAMG),” a protestor said.
Agriculture workers also demanded at least 200 days of work with a minimum wage of Rs 700 which should yearly adjust as per market inflation. They also said that empowering gram sabhas as a major stakeholder in MGNREGA works and its implementation throughout the villages, is one of their key demands.
