Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sunday said its workers will stage dharnas and protests across all districts Monday, demanding withdrawal of the Centre’s decision to rename MGNREGA as VB-G Ram G.
President Droupadi Murmu Sunday gave her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, the Rural Development Ministry said.
The VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, was passed by Parliament, amid opposition protests. It seeks to replace the existing rural employment law, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA), and guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household per financial year.
Addressing the media, OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das alleged that the Modi government has not only renamed MGNREGA, but also altered several provisions of the Act to exploit the poor.
When you have not given anything to the poor, why are you taking away the benefits provided to them by Congress he asked.
He said the Act was originally introduced by the UPA government to curb migration of poor people in search of work.
He said the party has decided to hold dharna and protests before the statues of Mahatma Gandhi in all organisational districts of the Congress Monday, he informed.
As part of the protests, Congress workers will hold protest marches and submit memorandums to district collectors demanding withdrawal of the name-changing decision.
The party would also hold demonstrations in various western and southern Odisha districts in protest against alleged irregularities in procurement of paddy from farmers December 23 and 24, Das said.
Slamming Tata Power for its decision to levy additional security deposit (ASD) on domestic electricity consumers in the state, the OPCC president demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision.
Das appealed to consumers not to pay ASD to the company. Terming the move as anti-people and unethical, he said the Congress would stage a protest over the issue on December 26 and 29.
Briefing reporters here Friday, Tata Power Distribution Companies CEOs claimed that ASD on electricity bills is a statutory requirement mandated under the Electricity Act, 2003 and abides by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) regulations.
The ASD is not new for Odisha. Similar ASD provision is also there in the states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, they had stated.
