VARANASI, Jan. 30 -- A large number of workers under the banner of The Dihadi Majdoor Sangathan (Daily Wage Workers' Union) and Lok Samiti staged a protest along the national highway in Rajatalab, Varanasi, on Thursday demanding the restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and the repeal of the new law.

Hundreds of workers from various villages had gathered along the National Highway to hold a meeting with an interfaith prayer on the eve of the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi--on January 30--and paid tribute to him.

They demanded the immediate restoration of the MGNREGA scheme and the repeal of the anti-labour law. During the protest, they raised slogans such as: "Give work to every ...