New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) The Opposition’s protest against Viksit Bharat G RAM G has failed to garner any public support because the country has accepted it as a better scheme than its previous version, MGNREGA, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Replying to a discussion on the working of Ministry of Rural Development, Chouhan accused the Congress of disregarding the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and changing the name of the scheme from NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) to MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) only for votes.
He claimed that during the Congress regime, 600 government schemes were started in the name of Jawaharlal Nehur, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, however, leaders like Chandra Shekhar Azad, Rani Lakshmi Bai, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were ignored.
According to Chouhan, except for Karnataka, states ruled by Opposition parties such as Jharkhand, Kerala, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh have made budgetary provisions for implementing VB G RAM G.
“From 2006–07 to 2013–14, the UPA government spent Rs 2,12,409 crore, while the Narendra Modi government has spent Rs 8,58,346.71 crore,” he said, adding that the current government allocated more funds to states compared to the UPA. He also provided state-wise details of fund allocation for the scheme.
Chouhan informed the House that when 11 lakh complaints of misuse of funds, such as fake vouchers and fake bills, were reported under MGNREGA, these issues were taken into account while making VB G RAM G and provisions have been made to prevent such misuse.
He also claimed that the Modi government hasn’t discriminated any state in the release of funds. His statement was objected to by a West Bengal MP who alleged funds were blocked for the state despite court orders.
The minister said that the objective of G RAM G is to increase employment from 100 to 125 days and ensure holistic development of villages by empowering Gram Sabhas to prepare village development plans.
Highlighting various features of the scheme, he said that provisions have been made for unemployment allowances if labourers fail to get employment for the allotted days. He added that measures have been taken to keep the labour force available during peak agriculture seasons.
The minister compared the total budget expenditure of the ministry during the UPA and NDA regimes and said that while Rs 4.9 lakh crore were spent from 2004 to 2014, the NDA government spent Rs 15.2 lakh crore from 2014 to 2025.
He outlined several development schemes under the NDA government, claiming that the highest budgetary provisions have been made so far for the development of villages.
Chouhan praised ormer Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for starting the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in the year 2000 which provided road connectivity to thousands of villages and transformed their lives. PTI JP ANU ANU
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