Renaming MGNREGA Is Second Assassination Of Gandhi: P Chidambaram To NDTV

The renaming of the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act) is like the "second assassination" of the Father of the Nation, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said today. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) Bill - meant to rename the flagship programme introduced by the UPA government -- was tabled in the Lok Sabha this evening amid days of protest by the Congress, which is seething over the removal of Gandhi's name. 

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Chidambaram who had announced the programme in 2004 budget, said, "Having vilified Jawaharlal Nehru over several days and years, now they are targeting Mahatma Gandhi".

"Mahatma Gandhi must fade from the memory of the Indian people.  The children should not know about Mahatma Gandhi. People should not have Mahatma Gandhi's name on their lips.  They are trying to erase Mahatma Gandhi from the nation's memory".

The Congress has been up in arms since the government announced the new name of the bill - a far cry from the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which was initially expected to be the name of the revamped programme. 

Other Opposition parties, including Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, have also taken a hard line against the renaming. 

'Hindi Imposition'

Chidambaram also weighed in on the North-South, Hindi-English divide that has become the other flashpoint of the name change. The G Ram G is one of the many bills that have a Hindi name, overturning the tradition of having a Hindi and an English name for each bill. 

Taking on the government's argument -- that the use of Hindi is meant to undo the colonial hangover - Chidambaram pointed out that the "Constitution of India is in English and the Constitution of India promises that Hindi and English will be the official languages of India".

There are almost 50 to 55 per cent of people in India who do not speak or write in Hindi and this basic fact cannot be ignored, he said. 
Giving an example of the practical problems that may arise, Chidambaram said earlier, those who do not know Hindi can access a bill through its English title.  But now, this will be impossible since the name of the bill not in English. This is an affront to the non-Hindi speaking people.

Will The New Bill Work?

Chidambaram said the new version of the MGNREGA, which has substantially tweaked its provisions, "entirely kills" its "soul and spirit".

"When I first announced the programme in the 2004-2005 budget, I quoted Dr Manmohan Singh and I said, the first charge on public funds is for the poor.  The entire idea was guarantee livelihood security," he said.

But the new bill, he added, kills all three aspects of the original objective. 

"It kills the guarantee.  It kills livelihood. It kills the security.  Why do you call it a guarantee ingrained bill?  There is no guarantee. It doesn't assure livelihood for the rural poor.  It has no security at all at the end of the day.  Therefore, this bill is totally opposed to what we originally envisaged in 2004-2005 and evolved over the last 20 years," he added. 

Differences In Two bills

Under MGNREGA, the government guarantees 100 days of work in rural areas and even pays unemployment allowance in case work cannot be provided. The new Bill proposes to raise the 100-day guarantee to 125 and keeps the other two conditions same. 

But under it, employment is meant to be generated through pre-approved plans, which, critics say, shifts the focus of the programme away from people's needs. Earlier, workers could apply to gram panchayats if they needed work, now they will get work only if there is any.

The new bill also proposes work under four categories -- water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related assets, and climate resilience. This curtails the scope of the work, which was earlier decided by panchayats according to local needs.