*Raise MGNREGA, Statehood issues
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 7: The Congress party today organized a massive protest demonstration in Jammu under the banner of “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” while simultaneously pressing for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir.
A large number of party workers and leaders gathered in a show of strength and marched to submit a memorandum addressed to the President of India through the Deputy Commissioner Jammu. The memorandum was formally submitted by former Minister J&K and president DCC Jammu Urban Yogesh Sawhney along with president DCC Jammu Rural, Neeraj Kundan. The protest was presided over by J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra, along with AICC general secretary & former minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and PCC working president Raman Bhalla.
The programme was held as part of a nationwide organizational direction of the Congress party under which District Congress Committees across the Union Territory are submitting memorandums to the President highlighting issues related to unemployment, weakening of rural livelihood schemes, and the urgent demand for restoration of democratic rights and statehood in Jammu & Kashmir.
Speaking on the issue, Yogesh Sawhney stated that the Congress party has launched the “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” because the scheme represents the lifeline of rural India and particularly the economically weaker sections of Jammu & Kashmir. He said the memorandum submitted to the President highlights that thousands of workers depend on MGNREGA wages for survival, yet payments are delayed, job cards remain inactive and work availability has drastically reduced.
Neeraj Kundan said the protest was not merely political but a representation of the suffering of rural labourers, farmers and unemployed youth who are facing economic hardships due to weakening of welfare mechanisms. He explained that in rural Jammu areas, MGNREGA once provided stability to families during difficult agricultural seasons but today workers struggle even to receive their entitled wages. He said growing public participation in the movement proves that statehood is no longer a political demand but a collective aspiration of society.
Senior leaders Mula Ram, Tarlok Singh Bajwa, Th Balbir Singh, Ved Mahajan, Manmohan Singh, Vinod Sharma, Th Hari Singh Chib, Shashi Sharma, Narinder Gupta, Amrit Bali, Gurmeet Singh, Satish Sharma, Zahida Khan, Ch. Hussain Waffa, Vijay Sharma (Seva Dal), Ajay Lakohotra (NSUI), Bushan Dogra, Sanjeev Panda, Gurdarshan Singh, Michel Wazir and many others were also present on the occasion.
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