BJP defends MGNREGA relabelling: 'Not changing name but spirit'
Party spokesperson Trivedi hits back at Congress after the Opposition party flayed the govt asking what was the need to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name
Amid the Opposition’s tirade against the government’s decision to rename Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or Scheme (MGNREGA/S), the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday (December 13) said the aim is not to alter the scheme’s name but its “spirit”.
Taking on the Congress under the government of which the scheme was launched two decades ago to boost livelihood security in rural areas, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Opposition party and its leaders fail to understand such a decision as they function with a sense of entitlement.
'Congress considers its exclusive right'
“The name on which the Congress considers its exclusive right belongs to the entire country,” the BJP leader said in an apparent reference to Mahatma Gandhi's name.
Also read: MGNREGA renaming sparks Opposition charge of Hindi imposition
On Friday (December 12), the Union Cabinet approved a Bill to rename the MGNREGA as ‘Pujya Bapu Grameen Rozgar Yojna’.
On Saturday, Congress leader and MP Jairam Ramesh slammed the Narendra Modi government, saying it was a “master” at renaming schemes and asked what was wrong with having “Mahatma Gandhi” in the name of the scheme.
Congress general secretary in-charge (organisation) K C Venugopal said the prime minister, who once called the MGNREGA a “monument of failure”, is now renaming it to claim credit for the “revolutionary” scheme.
Hitting back, Trivedi said, “The prime minister is not changing the name (of the scheme) but its spirit.”
Also read: Renaming MGNREGA: Congress accuses BJP of 'hating' Mahatma Gandhi
Prime Minister Modi has dedicated his entire life to the service of the nation and the people, and he works with this spirit, the BJP leader said.
“But the Congress, which has worked with the principle of ‘aage-peeche hamri sarkar, hum hain yahan ke rajkumar’ (we are in rule everywhere, we are the royals), cannot understand the spirit with which the prime minister works,” he said, when asked about the Congress's criticism of renaming MGNREGA.
Trivedi says Congress never did anything useful
On the Congress’s charge that the government was claiming credit for the scheme, Trivedi said the Opposition party has neither done any work that is useful nor worth taking any credit for.
“You renamed Kingsway as Rajpath because of the sense of raj (power). After Prime Minister Modi renamed it as Kartavya Path, it brought in a sense of duty,” Trivedi said.
Also read: Centre defies SC orders; MGNREGS remains frozen in Bengal, hitting 70 lakh workers
“The name, 7 Race Course Road, gave a sense of royal horse riding. When it was renamed Lok Kalyan Marg, it brought a spirit of public welfare. Renaming of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as Seva Tirth brought in a sense of service,” he added.
(With Agency inputs)