New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday announced that it will launch a nationwide agitation against the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), with protests scheduled to begin from January 5. The party said the upcoming movement, titled the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’, will be organised across the country and will match the scale and intensity of the earlier agitation against the now-repealed farm laws.
The decision to initiate the protest campaign was taken during a nearly three-hour-long meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body. Senior leaders deliberated on the issue before finalising the strategy for the nationwide programme.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party would organise rallies, demonstrations and other forms of protest in different parts of the country as part of the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’. He said the campaign would focus on mobilising public opinion against the repeal of the rural employment law.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meeting, underlining the party leadership’s emphasis on the issue. The Congress leadership said the campaign would seek to draw attention to the impact of the repeal on rural workers and the employment security they receive under the law.
Kharge said that MGNREGA is not just a welfare initiative but represents a constitutional “Right to Work” that provides dignity, assured employment and timely wages to rural labourers. He said the scheme has played a critical role in supporting rural livelihoods and ensuring income security for millions of workers across the country.
The Congress president alleged that the government had replaced the 20-year-old MGNREGA with the new VB GRAMG Bill. He said the Bill was passed in Parliament despite strong opposition from the Congress and other parties. According to Kharge, the passage of the legislation marked a significant shift away from the guarantees provided under the original employment law.
The party accused the government of attempting to weaken the rights of workers through the repeal of MGNREGA. Congress leaders said the move undermines employment security in rural areas and threatens the legal protections that workers had under the earlier law.
Kharge warned that the repeal of MGNREGA could trigger widespread public anger, particularly among rural communities that depend on the scheme for employment and income support. He said the Congress believes that dissatisfaction over the issue would have political consequences for the ruling government.
The Congress said the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ would aim to raise awareness about the implications of the repeal and press the government to reconsider its decision. Party leaders said the protests would be peaceful and democratic, with participation from workers, farmers and supporters across the country.
With the announcement, the Congress has signalled that the repeal of MGNREGA will remain a central issue in its political agenda in the coming weeks. The party said it would continue to oppose the move both on the streets and through political platforms, asserting that the protection of rural employment rights remains a priority.
