Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Wednesday refused to address a joint session of the state legislature that begins Thursday. The refusal stems from a point on the session's agenda – a discussion on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led centre replacing the Congress-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act with the contentious new G Ram G scheme.
The Congress government in Karnataka was expected to push through a resolution against the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB (G Ram G) Act.
Hoping to defuse the situation and persuade him into a U-turn, a high-level delegation led by Karnataka's Parliamentary Affairs Minister, HK Patil, met with the Governor this evening.
Last week Patil spoke of legal action against the G RAM G scheme. He also said the special session aims to create awareness and exert the required pressure on the centre to restore the MNREGA.
However, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, the BJP's R Ashoka alleged the state government had convened a joint session with "malafide intention" and called it a "sheer waste of money".
Meanwhile, the BJP's S Prakash has backed the Governor, declaring, "(Post of) Governor is a constitutional body and he (Gehlot) is aware of his limits and discretionary power he holds."
"Perhaps he must have thought it is constitutionally improper to address the joint session on a particular issue… so he must have disassociated (himself)," he said.
"Ultimately it is the Governor who takes the final (call)."
The G Ram G scheme cleared Parliament last month amid fierce protests from opposition lawmakers unhappy with the name – which invokes the name of Lord Ram over Mahatma Gandhi – and provisions they called "feudal" and which, they argued, "kills" job guarantees for the rural poor.
The opposition also protested a revised funding structure requiring most states to pay 40 per cent of wages for a critical social welfare scheme. That requirement, it argued, cripples the scheme since most states lack the finances to take on an estimated Rs 56 crore wage bill.
RECAP | 'G Ram G' Bill, To Replace MGNREGA, Clears Parliament, Opposition Stages Protest
The government has defended its new scheme by stressing the need to update a 20-year-old scheme, i.e., the MNREGA, that was inefficient and riddled with corruption. It also pointed to an increased minimum number of workdays – from 100 under MNREGA to 125 under G Ram G.
READ | "'Ram' On Lips, Dagger In Heart": Shivraj Chouhan Slams Congress On G Ram G
On the name change row Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan, who tabled the legislation in the Lok Sabha, pointed out the Congress had only added Gandhi's name to its scheme in 2009.
G RAM G explained
The main points (at least the ones most discussed by lawmakers) of the new legislation are the guaranteed workdays, the funding structure, and increased federal control over fund allocation, which the government described as "normative" rather than "demand-based", i.e., the centre will determine how much each state gets every year based on "objective parameters".
Guaranteed workdays: G RAM G offers an increased minimum number – 125 over 100 by MNREGA – but there are conditions, including notification of a 'rural area' by the centre.
READ | "Swear By My Mother, This Isn't Good For The Poor": M Kharge On G RAM G Bill
That is, employment guarantees under G RAM G will not extend to areas not listed as 'rural' by the central government. This point is carried over from MNREGA. In practice, though, employment then was offered across all rural districts, making it a pan-India scheme.
Funding logic: Under the MNREGA the centre paid around 90 per cent of all expenses, including wages and raw materials. That changes under G RAM G, with states required to pay 40 per cent of that amount, although hill states and those from the northeast need pay only 10 per cent.
Union territories will continue to receive 100 per cent funding in this regard.
The change in the financing architecture, the government has argued, will encourage each state to take up financial ownership of the scheme in its territories. The opposition, though, argued this would further stress already fragile state-level finances, effectively reducing the scope of the scheme by limiting the amount of work available; the Congress called G RAM G "anti-poor".
The government has stressed this will not "impose an undue financial burden" and that the funding structure has been calibrated according to each state's fiscal capabilities.
The funding architecture is a flashpoint because it constrains – based on the centre's "normative allocation" – the amount of work each state can offer under the programme. It also means the centre can, if it chooses to, suspend funds "where serious irregularities are detected, and direct corrective or remedial measures to address deficiencies".
Work basket and who assigns it: At the ground level nothing changes. Work will continue to offered by the panchayat and/or programme officer at the grassroots.
What does change, however, is that under G RAM G the centre will set the standards, which includes regulating, in the case of construction work, for example, materials and designs, and limiting the nature of work 'approved' for payout from the allocated finances.
Also, the G RAM G scheme divides work into four categories – water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related assets, and climate resilience. Critics said this curtails the scope of the work, which was earlier decided by panchayats according to local needs.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
