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Jharkhand Congress warns new MNREGA law will burden state
“In MNREGA, the central government contributed 90% of the total expenditure, but in the new law, the Centre-state ratio has been changed to 60:40. The Modi government is going to put a burden of more than ₹50,000 crore on the states, which will shake the economic foundation of the states,” Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel said.
Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel organised a press conference at the party’s state headquarters on Monday, where he presented a bleak picture of the state economy after the introduction of a new law in place of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREGA) Act.
“In MNREGA, the central government contributed 90% of the total expenditure, but in the new law, the Centre-state ratio has been changed to 60:40. The Modi government is going to put a burden of more than ₹50,000 crore on the states, which will shake the economic foundation of the states,” Patel said.
Patel also talked about the National Herald case, saying it was not an economic scam but a political conspiracy. He said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have already clarified that there was no underlying crime in the case that warranted an FIR.
“The National Herald case is not an economic scam but a political conspiracy. The court’s decision is in favour of law, the Constitution, and democratic values. There was no misuse of government funds, no manipulation of personal property, and no financial gain for anyone, but an attempt was made to forcibly portray it as a scam. The CBI had clarified in 2014 and 2015 that there was no underlying crime in this case that warranted an FIR. The ED also acknowledged this and did not initiate any investigation,” Patel said.
Patel stated that the National Herald case was started at the behest of the central government, and the court has also observed the same.
“In 2021, at the behest of the central government, the ED started an investigation out of revenge, which the court considered an example of political vendetta,” Patel said.
State Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh echoed Patel, holding the BJP and RSS responsible for the same. He said a new India cannot be forged by removing the names of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
“The BJP and RSS are gradually trying to undermine our democratic and constitutional traditions, which are based on the shared legacy of Gandhi, Ambedkar, and Nehru. However, their greatest irony is that no matter how much they try to erase, diminish, or defame these figures, the soul of India cannot be separated from Gandhi, Nehru, and Ambedkar,” Mahto said.
“A new India cannot be forged by removing these names, because this democracy, this Constitution, and this country stand on this very legacy. The BJP and RSS’s ideology is centred on resentment and hatred towards Gandhi, Ambedkar, and Nehru, and those who invoke their names and ideologies, and this resentment and hatred surfaces from time to time,” he added.
Former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Rajesh Kachhap, Rakesh Sinha, and Sonal Shanti were present during the press conference.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo, in response to Patel’s press conference, said it was not the first time the name of the rural job guarantee law had been changed.
“The Congress government changed the name of the MNREGA scheme many times. Initially, it was named after Jawaharlal Nehru, then it became NREGA, and finally, in 2009, it was named after Mahatma Gandhi, that too when elections were imminent. The Congress party will find fault with every scheme that invokes Lord Rama. After all, it was the same Congress party that, in 2007, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Ram Setu case, declaring Lord Rama to be a fictional character and the Ramayana a fictional text. Through the Viksit Bharat Shri Ram Yojana, people will now get 125 days of employment, and that too in a very short time,” Shahdeo said.
Regarding the National Herald case, he said that Congress should wait for the final verdict of the case, as it was not an ordinary case but a scam in which the Gandhi family seized the money of freedom fighters.
“The National Herald case is a scam in which the Gandhi family seized the money of freedom fighters. The freedom fighters started the National Herald newspaper with their hard-earned money. Later, the Gandhi family took control of it through Young India. Assets worth ₹5,000 crore were seized by spending only ₹50 lakh. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are currently out on bail in this case. The final verdict has not yet been delivered, so the Congress party has no reason to be happy,” Shahdeo said.
