Congress Submits Memo to Guv on MGNREGA
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Agartala
- Feb 17, 2026
- 1049
The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to N. Indrasena Reddy, registering its strong opposition to the repeal and restructuring of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and demanding its reinstatement in what it termed its “original, rights-based architecture.”
As part of its protest, the party organised a “Lok Bhavan March” in Agartala. The procession was intercepted by security personnel near the Circuit House, after which a delegation of senior leaders proceeded to Raj Bhavan to formally submit the memorandum.
Addressing party workers and supporters, PCC president Asish Kumar Saha and AICC invitee member and MLA Sudip Roy Barman articulated the party’s objections to the newly enacted legislation, referred to in the memorandum as the VB-GRAM-G Act. They characterised the proposed changes as a fundamental departure from the spirit and statutory guarantees embedded in the original framework.
In its submission, the Congress described MGNREGA as the “cornerstone of rural livelihood security,” asserting that it has provided employment to an estimated 5–6 crore families annually. The party contended that the scheme significantly curtailed distress migration, strengthened rural wage structures, and institutionalised direct bank transfers that particularly empowered women, Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalised communities. It underscored that women account for nearly 60 per cent of total workdays generated under the programme.
Recalling that the Act, enacted in 2005, enshrined a legally enforceable right to demand wage employment for every rural household, the memorandum emphasised that state governments were statutorily obligated to provide work within 15 days of demand, failing which unemployment allowance was payable. This legal guarantee, the party argued, constituted the moral and constitutional core of the legislation.
Expressing grave concern over the new law, the Congress alleged that it effectively dismantles the legal entitlement to work, centralises decision-making authority with the Union Government, circumscribes the powers of state governments, and erodes the autonomy of Panchayati Raj institutions. It further claimed that the Union Government’s wage contribution has been reduced from 90 per cent to 60 per cent, thereby transferring a disproportionate fiscal burden onto states and, ultimately, rural workers.
The memorandum also warned that budgetary caps, seasonal restrictions on employment during peak agricultural periods, and the dilution of wage safeguards would inevitably precipitate reduced employment generation, suppressed wages, and heightened rural distress. Additionally, the party objected to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme, describing it as a symbolic yet significant attempt to undermine the philosophical foundations of the original enactment.
Noting that the Bill had been opposed in Parliament but was nonetheless passed, the party informed the Governor that the Congress Working Committee had resolved to launch a nationwide agitation titled “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” to safeguard the constitutional right to work.
The memorandum was ultimately submitted to the Governor for “kind perusal and necessary action,” with an appeal for appropriate constitutional intervention.