Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has initiated a statewide agitation against the repeal and renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), asserting that the Central government dismantled this crucial rights-based livelihood program intended for rural communities in India. The agitation was launched by AICC secretary and MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka at Congress Bhawan, with support from NPCC president and Lok Sabha MP S Supongmeren Jamir, working president Khriedi Theunuo, and various senior party leaders.
Ulaka condemned the “undemocratic and hasty” passage of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission–Gramin (VBG RAM-G) Act, claiming it was rushed through Parliament without adequate deliberation and effectively supplanted MGNREGA while undermining its foundational rights-based provisions. He further criticized the Central government’s ongoing efforts to erode MGNREGA over the past 11 years through mechanisms such as delayed wage disbursements, chronic underfunding, and denial of material costs.
In reference to Nagaland, Ulaka highlighted the state’s persistent low MGNREGA wage rates, which have remained unchanged for several years. The 45-day agitation will feature various activities including media conferences statewide, symbolic fasting, outreach programs at the panchayat level, submission of memoranda to district authorities, and public rallies designed to galvanize support for the employment guarantee scheme.
