'BJP's secret bid to kill MGNREGS': Selvaperunthagai slams stagnant Budget allocation

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K Selvaperunthagai on Monday condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP regime for reducing budgetary allocation for MGNREGS and imposing unnecessary conditions for the implementation of the scheme.

Remarking that the budgetary allocation made by the Modi regime would severely affect the rural economy, Selvaperunthagai said that the BJP government reduced the allocation for MGNREGS from Rs 98,468 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 86,000 crore in 2024-25.

Referring to the Rs 4,315 crore wage arrears due across the country, the TNCC chief said that about 1.09 crore workers were affected in Tamil Nadu alone due to non-payment of wages since November 27, 2024. Stating that people were forced to migrate to cities due to non-payment of wages even for the work hours, they put in under the MGNREGS, the TNCC chief said that about Rs 2.72 lakh crore, equivalent to 0.18% of the GDP, would be needed to ensure 100 days work to all under the rural jobs scheme.

On the contrary, the Union government has imposed unnecessary conditions over mandatory Aadhar card seeding in an indirect bid to reduce the number of workers, he accused. Pointing out that the budgetary allocation of the Union government would only be sufficient to provide work for 42 days per annum, Selvaperunthagai condemned the Union government for imposing unnecessary conditions to shelve the MGNREGS, which saved the rural economy.