Bengaluru, Jan. 30 -- Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Friday defended the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), stating that even the NDA government, which initially criticised the scheme, was later compelled to continue it after recognising the ground realities of rural India.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Moily recalled that after the NDA came to power at the Centre, there were remarks from within the ruling establishment describing the introduction of MGNREGA by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government as a "monumental error".
However, he said that over time, the government realised that people genuinely needed the employment guarantee scheme and therefore allowed it to continue.
Moily said al...