Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal
Bantwal, Feb 11: State vice-president of the Five Guarantees Implementation Committee, Pushpa Amarnath alleged that the BJP-led union government has failed to introduce any new pro-people schemes and has instead limited itself to renaming development programmes launched during the Congress regime.
She was addressing a public meeting on the second day of the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram Padayatra’, which began in Sullia on September 9. The meeting was held at Netlamudnoor village in Bantwal Assembly constituency.
Criticising the reported renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Pushpa Amarnath said the scheme had benefited crores of poor people across the country and had proved a lifeline during the Covid pandemic.
“Members of the BJP and Sangh Parivar, who did not participate in the country’s freedom struggle, do not accept the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. As part of a conspiracy to erase his name, the scheme’s name has been changed,” she alleged.
She further said that under MGNREGA, employment was provided at the Grama Panchayat level, strengthening grassroots governance. “In the coming days, this move will weaken the basic structure of the Panchayat system. It is a positive development that people across the country, cutting across party lines, are protesting against the Centre’s decision. The Congress has always stood for the poor. Gandhi means Congress and Congress means Gandhi — this has been proven time and again,” she asserted.
The padayatra received a grand welcome at Kukkarabettu in Netlamudnoor village, organised by the Panemangalore Block Congress and the Netlamudnoor Zone Congress.
Former minister B Ramanath Rai spoke on the occasion. Dakshina Kannada District Congress president Harish Kumar, MLC Ivan D’Souza, Puttur MLA Ashok Rai, KPCC general secretary M S Mohammed, members Piyush Rodrigues and Chandraprakash Shetty Thumbe, coordinator Kavu Hemanath Shetty, NSUI state vice-president Farooq Byabbe, KPCC Labour Cell state secretary Hanif Perlapu, and party leaders Ashwini Kumar Rai, Padmashekar Jain, Joakim D’Souza, T M Shaheed, K K Sahul Hameed, Mamata Gatti, Shashidhar Hegde, Balakrishna Anchan, Baby Kunder, Sudeep Kumar Shetty, Kushal M Peraje, Ibrahim Nawaz, Subhash Chandra Shetty, Suresh Jora, K Padmanabha Rai, Padmanabha Poojary Alike, Anita Hemanath Shetty, Usha Anchan, Appi, Shalet Pinto, Jayanthi Poojary, Samitha D Poojary, Satish Poojary Kopparige, Krishna Prasad Alva, U T Tausif, Nihal P Shetty and Anwar Kasim, along with several party workers, were present.
Panemangalore Block Congress president Chandrashekhar Bhandary welcomed the gathering, while Netlamudnoor Zone Congress president Abdul Latheef delivered the vote of thanks. Mani Zone Congress president Balakrishna Alva Kodaje compered the programme.