Manipur: Sadar Hills District Congress accuses PM Modi led BJP government of dismantling 'Right to Work'

The Sadar Hills District Congress Committee (SHDCC) launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led Central government, accusing it of systematically dismantling the constitutional Right to Work and pushing rural India towards hunger, unemployment and forced migration. Marking an aggressive phase of the nationwide “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram”, the Congress organised a one-day fast-cum-District Level Press Conference at NC Event Hall, Saparmeina.

 

Held under the directives of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), the programme witnessed the participation of MPCC General Secretary and In-charge SHDCC Sorkho George, MPCC Vice-President and PCC Member (51 Saitu Assembly Constituency) Dr. Lamtinthang Haokip, BCC President R. Rengsinkhup Kharam, along with senior party leaders, grassroots workers and supporters.

 

Addressing the media, Congress leaders alleged that the Modi government has hollowed out the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), transforming a legally enforceable right into a discretionary welfare scheme controlled from New Delhi. They accused the Centre of weakening village self-governance while paving the way for contractors and excessive centralisation.

 

The Congress leaders highlighted what they described as four major assaults on the Right to Work. They stated that MGNREGA once guaranteed 100 days of employment to every rural household, to be provided within 15 days on demand. Under the current regime, they claimed, this legal guarantee has been effectively scrapped, with employment now allotted selectively and driven by political considerations.

 

Raising concern over stagnant wages and denial of work during critical agricultural seasons, the leaders alleged that arbitrary wage fixation has pushed rural workers into distress. “This amounts to institutionalised wage theft, forcing workers to accept exploitative labour without minimum wage protection,” they said.

 

The SHDCC further accused the Centre of dismantling grassroots democracy by stripping Gram Panchayats of their authority to plan and execute works. According to Congress leaders, power has been centralised, contractors have been reintroduced, MGNREGA mates and Rozgar Sahayaks sidelined, and elected Panchayats reduced to mere implementing agencies.

 

They also criticised changes in funding patterns, pointing out that while the Union Government earlier bore 100 per cent of wage costs, states are now compelled to shoulder 40 per cent. This, they alleged, is a deliberate attempt to financially choke states, forcing cuts in rural employment and abandonment of vulnerable workers.

 

The Congress accused the Centre of starving MGNREGA of funds, delaying wage payments, and imposing systems such as Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) and National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), which they claimed have excluded crores of genuine workers. These digital measures, they alleged, have become barriers to wages rather than tools of transparency.

 

The SHDCC announced that Gram Sabhas across the country are being mobilised to pass resolutions demanding restoration of MGNREGA in its original spirit. The resolutions seek restoration of the legal guarantee of work on demand, year-round employment rights, protection of the pan-India character of MGNREGA, and revival of Gram Panchayats’ authority to plan and execute projects.

 

Reiterating the Congress party’s position, the SHDCC placed four non-negotiable demands before the government: guaranteed work, guaranteed wages and guaranteed accountability; immediate rollback of all anti-worker changes to MGNREGA; full restoration of the constitutional Right to Work; and a national minimum wage of ₹400 per day.

 

The leaders underscored MGNREGA’s critical role in rural survival over the past two decades, noting that it provided employment to 4.6 crore families during the COVID-19 crisis, generated over 180 crore person-days of work, and helped create durable rural assets across the country.

 

Accusing the Centre of promoting a contractor-driven and centralised development model, Congress leaders asserted, “The Modi Government wants to weaken workers and villages. The Congress will not allow the Right to Work to be buried.” They warned that the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram would intensify from villages to Parliament until justice is restored.