Excelsior Correspondent
PULWAMA, Dec 29: All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) has expressed serious concern over the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which had been providing guaranteed employment to rural households for more than two decades.
Anil Sharma, President of the AJKPC, while addressing a programme organised by the Panchayat Conference in the Kakapora area of Pulwama district, said that rural communities are apprehensive about the effectiveness and sustainability of the newly introduced rural employment scheme, VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin) Act. He stated that the sudden transition from a well-established scheme to a new one has created uncertainty among job seekers in rural areas.
Sharma expressed disappointment that the Government did not undertake adequate consultation with key stakeholders before replacing MGNREGA.
Without commenting on the controversy surrounding the name or branding of the new scheme, the AJKPC President asserted that the real concern of rural people is not political messaging but livelihood security. “For villagers, what truly matters is the availability of employment at their doorstep, timely payment of wages, and strict adherence to the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act,” he said.
Sharma emphasised that MGNREGA carried a legacy of more than twenty years and, despite certain shortcomings, largely succeeded in providing employment within villages and panchayats. He noted that the scheme played a significant role in reducing rural-to-urban migration by enabling families to sustain themselves in their native places.
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