New Delhi, Dec. 22 -- The Congress party on Monday announced a public agitation campaign to oppose the government's move to repeal the abolition of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), citing concerns over the government's move to replace it with the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh highlighted the history of employment guarantee schemes in India, starting with the pioneering Employment Guarantee Scheme introduced in Maharashtra in the 1970s. He noted that the Congress party had pledged to enact a new law to guarantee employment for 100 days a year to rural families in its 2004 Lok Sabha election manifesto, which eventual...