Patna: The Indian National Congress will launch a nationwide campaign to protect the Right to Work, Bihar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Nadeem Ansari said on Sunday. He stated that the Congress party has decided to initiate a countrywide movement titled “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” to safeguard the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Ansari explained that MGNREGA, implemented in 2005 by the UPA government, is a rights-based law that provides every rural household with a legal right to demand wage employment. Under the Act, state governments are legally bound to provide employment within 15 days of demand, failing which unemployment allowance must be paid. This statutory guarantee is the core and defining feature of MGNREGA.
He said MGNREGA has been the backbone of rural livelihood security, providing employment to nearly 5–6 crore families annually. The scheme has helped reduce distress migration, increased rural wages, and led to the creation of durable community assets. Its demand-driven structure, assured wages, and direct bank payments have especially benefited women, Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized communities, with women accounting for nearly 60 percent of total workdays generated under the scheme.
Ansari criticized the proposed VB-GRAM-G Act, calling it a fundamental departure from the original framework of MGNREGA. He alleged that the new provisions remove the legal guarantee of work, centralize decision-making with the Union government, weaken gram sabhas and panchayats, and reduce the Centre’s wage contribution from nearly 90 percent to 60 percent, thereby shifting the financial burden onto states and workers. Budget-capped allocations, restrictions on work during peak agricultural seasons, and dilution of wage security provisions would, he said, inevitably lead to reduced employment, suppression of workers, and a deepening rural crisis. He also objected to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the programme, calling it an attack on the values of dignity of labour and Gram Swaraj.
Considering the seriousness of what it termed an attack on rural livelihoods, the Congress Working Committee, in its meeting held on December 27, 2025, unanimously decided to launch the nationwide mass movement “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” to protect the Right to Work and restore MGNREGA to its original rights-based form.
Campaign Schedule:
- January 8: PCC-level preparatory meetings
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January 10: District-level press conferences
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January 11: One-day fast as symbolic protest
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January 12 – January 29: Panchayat-level public outreach
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Chaupals in all gram panchayats
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Assembly constituency-level street meetings and pamphlet distribution
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January 30: Ward-level peaceful sit-ins
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January 31 – February 6: District-level “MGNREGA Bachao” dharnas
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February 7 – February 15: State-level Assembly gherao
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February 16 – February 25: Zonal AICC “MGNREGA Bachao” rallies at four major locations across the country
