Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said the BJP government has struck a blow to the rights of Dalits, backward classes, the poor, villagers, and Panchayats by making changes to MNREGA.
Addressing a press conference in Jhajjar with several senior party leaders, including MLAs Raghubir Singh Kadian, Geeta Bhukkal, and Kuldeep Vats, Hooda said that the BJP government had started weakening MNREGA as soon as it came to power. “In a reply to a question asked by the Congress in Parliament revealed that more than 8 lakh MNREGA workers were registered in Haryana. But in 2024-25, the government provided 100 days of work to only 2100 families,” he stated.
“This means that the BJP had already effectively ended the scheme in Haryana. Now, along with changing the name, the very existence of the scheme has been wiped out. The Congress will oppose this at every level and will force the government to withdraw this anti-people decision,” he said
He added that the Congress stands firmly with the MNREGA workers and is running a campaign across the country to protect their employment.
Hooda said that the MNREGA scheme, introduced by the Congress government, was meant to further Mahatma Gandhi's Gram Swaraj (village self-governance) campaign. “The budget for the scheme was determined based on demand. Which is why there was no limit to the budget under this law,’ he said.
“All states and districts were required to provide work to all those who demanded it. It was the responsibility of the central government to release the budget for all these workers. But now, that budget has been divided between the central and state governments in such a way that its allocation has become difficult,” he added.
Hooda also objected to the appointment of the HPSC Chairman from another state. “He is recruiting non-Haryanvis in all the state's recruitment processes. The rights of local unemployed youth are being snatched away through a conspiracy, which is unacceptable,” he stated.
He said the BJP government was continuously recruiting non-Haryanvis in various major recruitment drives. Hooda said that Haryana has become the number one state in the country in terms of unemployment. As a result, crime is also continuously increasing. Organised crime, in particular, has increased to such an extent that incidents of murder, robbery, extortion, and shootings have become commonplace. He said about 60 gangs are currently active in Haryana.
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