Chikkaballapura, 23 Feb

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the BJP-led Centre of dismantling MGNREGA and vowed a stir until it is restored.

Addressing the 'MGNREGA Bachao Sangraam' rally here on Monday, he said the Congress would fight against the replacement of the rural jobs scheme with a new Central law.

"Today the 'Save MGNREGA' campaign has been launched across the country. It has begun in Karnataka as well," Siddaramaiah said, pointing out that the Centre had scrapped MGNREGA and had enacted the Vikasit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission–Grameen (VBG-RAMG) Act in its place.

There was no justification to repeal the scheme, he said, recalling that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted in 2005 when Dr Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister to employ rural labourers, Adivasis, small farmers and women.

Siddaramaiah alleged that the new law was pushed through Parliament without adequate debate.

"On 17 December 2025, there were only eight hours of debate. On 18 December, the Bill was passed, and the VBG-RAMG Act came into force," he said.

He claimed that nearly 12 crore workers were affected by the scrapping of MGNREGA, of whom about 53 per cent were women and 28 per cent belonged to SCs and STs.

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi, he said the scheme was named after him because he believed that India could not progress without developing villages.