Lok Bhavan chalo: All Gram Panchayat offices in Karnataka to be named after Mahatma Gandhi

The Congress government in Karnataka has decided to name all 6,000 Gram Panchayat offices in the State after Mahatma Gandhi. This was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar during the the party’s protest against the Union government introducing the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G Ram G) Act by repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Shivakumar, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, along with party legislators and MPs, were later taken into preventive custody when they decided to march towards Lok Bhavan as part of “Raj Bhavan Chalo” protest to submit a memorandum to the Governor demand repeal of the new Act.

Maintaining status quo

Speaking at the protest earlier at Freedom Park, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the decision of the Union govenrment is testimony to the antipathy of the BJP and its affiliates to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and the spirit of decentralisation enshrined in the earlier Act named after him. The new Act, which bears of the name “Ram”, has no regard for the ideals of “Dasharatha’s son Rama” or “Seeta’s husband Rama”, he argued. “At the behest of RSS, the BJP-led Central government is rolling back all pro-poor policies,” he said, alleging that the belief system of RSS and BJP was that “the poor should remain subservient forever.”

“Around five crore people, including the differently-abled, were getting employment in the rural areas. The Centre now wants to decide what work should be done, whereas earlier it was done by Panchayats,” Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged, adding that the role of Panchayats had been severely curtailed.

Mr. Shivakumar said that by scrapping MGNREGA, the BJP has invited trouble for itself. “People in rural areas will not accept VB-G RAM G, and they will not pardon the BJP for repealing the employment guarantee law,” he said.

Assault on the poor

Mr. Surjewala, who is Karnataka in-charge, alleged that the Centre would eventually scrap the rural employment guarantee scheme. “This is an assault on the rights of crores of poor, deprived and needy, particularly SC, ST and OBCs, who constitute 85% of MGNREGA Workers,” he said.

Later in the day, the Congress workers met Govenor Thaawarchand Gehlot and submitted a petition seeking rolling back the new law and reintroduction of the old one.

Senior Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa had last week called on the State government to name gram panchayats after Mahatma Gandhi.