G RAM G Bill: Kharge promises to take the battle to the streets as opposition MPs demonstrate in the parliament complex
G RAM G Bill: Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge promised to oppose the government’s plan in Parliament and on the streets as a number of opposition MPs staged a protest march within the Parliament House complex on Thursday against the G RAM G law and demanded its withdrawal.
They marched from the Gandhi monument at Prerna Sthal to Makar Dwar while chanting anti-government chants behind a massive banner that said “Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.”
Among those who took part in the demonstration were Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, DMK members K Kanhimozhi, TR Ballu, A Raja, IUML members ET Mohammed Basheer, Shiv Sena (UBT) members Arvind Sawant, and RSP members N K Premchandran.
“The Modi government has not only insulted the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, but has also crushed the right to work, which was instrumental in bringing about socio-economic transformation in India’s villages,” Kharge said in a Hindi post on X after the demonstration.
“Against this tyranny of the ruling dictatorial government, we will fight from Parliament to the streets,” Kharge said.
Sonia Gandhi, a senior Congress politician, joined the demonstrators and took part in the Makar Dwar protests.
“Today, Parliament is witnessing the murder of democracy,” Venugopal told reporters. They are attempting to eradicate both the Father of the Nation’s philosophy and democratic norms by deleting Mahatma Gandhi’s name from NREGA.
Parliament is debating the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which would replace the MGNREGA of the UPA regime.
The administration is accused of demeaning Mahatma Gandhi and weakening the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 by the opposition, which has been vehemently opposed to the Bill.
According to the measure, every rural family whose adult members agree to do unskilled physical labor would get a legislative guarantee of 125 days of paid employment within a fiscal year.
States must create a plan that complies with the new law’s requirements within six months after the VB-G RAM G Act’s effective date.