Jaipur: The protest against the Centre’s decision to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat -Gramin Rozgar Guarantee (VB-GRAMG) scheme continued in Rajasthan’s Bhim town Friday, with hundreds of workers affiliated with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and Rajasthan Asangathit Mazdoor Union (RAMU) staging a rally and sit-in, alleging that scrapping MGNREGA is an attack on the legal right to employment of crores of rural workers.Workers from MKSS, RAMU and several gram panchayats took out a rally through Bhim town before staging a sit-in outside the office of the Vikas Adhikari, Panchayat Samiti Bhim, demanding the immediate withdrawal of VB-GRAMG and restoration of MGNREGA in its original form.The protesters alleged that since the rollout of VB-GRAMG on July 1, workers seeking employment in gram panchayats, including Kaladeh, Sameliya, Togi, Thaneta and Kukarkheda, were neither allowed to submit job applications nor issued receipts. Speakers at the protest termed this a violation of the legal provisions of MGNREGA, under which workers have the right to demand employment and receive an acknowledgement of their applications.Announcing that the agitation would be expanded across Rajasthan, MKSS and RAMU said the “Kaam Maango Abhiyan” would now be intensified at gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, district headquarters and the state level to protect workers’ right to employment.Rajasthan Asangathit Mazdoor Union president Shankar Singh said, “MGNREGA is not a favour from any govt, but a right won through the long struggle of the country’s toiling workers. Ending it today and implementing VB-GRAMG is a direct attack on the livelihood and dignity of crores of rural families.”Following the sit-in, the protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the Vikas Adhikari. They demanded immediate withdrawal of VB- GRAMG, a legal guarantee of at least 200 days of employment for every rural family, an increase in MGNREGA wages to Rs 800 per day, removal of technical barriers such as the NMMS system, and action against officials who allegedly refused to accept workers’ applications.
