JAMMU, Feb 03:Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and veteran congress leader Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that MGNREGA scheme launched by Congress led UPA-I is a unique scheme of its kind in the World, which has been recognized by the world bank also as the biggest job source in the World.
Addressing a largely attended congress rally here today to celebrate 10 successful years of the launch of MGNREGA scheme in the Country, Shri Azad said that the scheme was aimed at providing right to job to the rural poor in this Country and its success lies in the fact that around 13 crores households in the Country covering a population of around 65 crores had availed the benefit of this scheme when the UPA-II relinquished its office.
He said that BJP leadership which had initially criticized scheme in order to malign the UPA Govt. but the Modi Govt. had to take U turn and has been forced to celebrate its 10 years of completion because of the remarkable success and achievements of this scheme and its popularity amongst the rural poor.
The rally was organized by the JKPCC presided over by PCC Chief Shri G A Mir in which Shri Azad was the chief guest while AICC Secretary Mainul Haque MLA, West Bengal was the guest of honour besides attendance of all prominent leaders of state unit apart from party MLAs & MLCs and representatives of Panchayats from different parts. The programme was part of the nation wide celebrations of the Congress party over the completion of a decade of the launch of the scheme.
Shri Azad said that Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi had great concern for the people in rural areas and villages and the MGNREGA scheme was the result of the emphasis of the UPA leadership to uplift the rural poor and to ensure development in villages. He said that some states did not initially implement the scheme in its right spirit but it has resulted in providing job to the people in their own villages and areas and checked the migration of labour especially from states like Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan to other states in the Country for the livelihood.
Shri Azad said that congress led UPA Govt. has laid emphasis on the health, education, connectivity of villages and jobs besides power projects based on nuclear energy, Hydel and Solar power. He said that results of these initiatives were visible in the Country. He said that initiatives of the UPA-II in power sector would bring remarkable results in near future. He said lacs of schools were opened under SSA for providing education in each and every corner of the country, while under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) health care facilities have been extended where under each village and even hamlet has an Asha worker whose number is around 10 lacs as against over six lac villages in the Country.
Shri Azad said that Congress always launched pro-people and development oriented schemes in the Country and the BJP led NDA Govt. is only branding those schemes or changing nomenclature to take credit. He asked the Congress leaders and workers to educate the masses and make them aware of the schemes of the Congress party.
He lauded the efforts of the PCC leadership for galvanizing the party by organizing a series of conventions and programmes in all parts of the State and asked the partymen to unitedly coordinate the activities to strengthen the party.
Earlier PCC Chief Shri G.A. Mir in his address described MGNREGA as the biggest gift of the century by Congress led UPA leadership under Dr. Mamohan Singh and Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji to the poor in the rural areas of this country. He said that this was only scheme in the World in which right to work has been granted under a landmark legislation where under the Govt. is duty bound to provide job within 15 days of application or alternatively wages for each day of delay.
Lashing out at BJP for its rhetorics to malign the Congress for the launch this scheme, he said that the biggest certificate of the success of this scheme, is the declaration of World Bank crediting MGNREGA as biggest job source in the world. He said that it showed the approach and far-sightedness of the congress leadership towards the poor and down trodden in this country.
Mr. Mir said that Congress has done commendable achievements during UPA-I and UPAII but the falsehood and exploitation spread by BJP overshadowed the achievements and expressed confidence that people have started understanding the difference in short span, as all promises of Modi Govt. have turned out to be false and prices of all commodities are touching skies, causing great hardships to the poor and middle class people.
Lauding the efforts of AICC Vice President Shri Rahul Gandhi for taking keen interest in the implementation of this scheme and involvement of PRIs in the process, PCC Chief said that MGNREGA played a significant role in the over all development of the villages as it was a demand driven scheme under which the was no dearth of funds during UPA regime and it empowered the grass root Panchayat Raj institutions in the Country to under take developmental works worth lacs of rupees in each panchayat during a financial year. Howover the policies of the Modi led BJP Govt. has marginalized the role of Panchayats and there are huge liabilities of payments under MGNREGA in the State.
AICC Secretary Shri Mainual Haque in his address lauded the congress leadership in the Country for framing the schemes like MGNREGA, NRHM, SSA, RGGVY and other schemes aimed at the welfare and development of the rural and urban areas besides taking special care of the SC/ST/minorities and other downtrodden sections. He said that falsehood of Modi Govt. is exposed in the Country and asked the sate unit to vigorously expose the failures of the BJP Govt. on all fronts. He lauded PCC leadership for the activities under taken during past 10 months and appreciated PCC Chief to gear up the party in the state.
Several senior leaders who addressed the gathering include S/Shri Sham Lal Sharma, Rigzin Jora, Tara Chand, Madan Lal Sharma-EX-MP, Jugal Kishore, Jahangir Mir-Dy Chairman Leg. Council, Mula Ram, Raman Bhalla, G.M. Saroori, Haji Abdul Rashid, M.S. Niaz, R.S. Chib, Suman Bhagat, Balwan Singh, Shah Mohd. Choudhary, Manmohan Singh, S. Manjeet Singh, Viukram Malhotra, Namrata Sharma, Prakash Sharma, Shiv Dev Singh M.K. Bhardwaj, While prominent others who attended include Kanta Bhan, Indu Pawar, Swarn Lata, Ravinder Sharma, MLAs Ch. Mohd. Akram, Vikar Rasool, Dildan Namgyal, MLCs Naresh Gupta, Rani Baloria, Sham Lal Bhagat, Th. Hari Singh Anil Chopra, Yogesh Sawhney, Dr. Manohar Lal, Shabir Ahmed Khan, Faqir Nath, S.S. Channi, Th. Balbir Singh, , Arvinder Singh Micky, Ashok Sharma Ex-MLA, Amolak Singh, Jagdish Raj Spolia, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pranav Shagotra, Neeraj Kundan, B.S. Sambyal, Rajnish Sharma, Sain Adbul Rashid, Girdhari Lal Chalotra, Kuldeep Raj Verma, Ch. Shahnawaz, Krishan Lal Bhagat, Ashok Dogra, Subash Bhagat, Pankaj Dogra, Praveen Sarwar Khan, Iqbal Malik, Neeraj Gupta, Surinder Gupta, Pawan Raina, Shashi Sharma,Shamsher Singh Chib, Sanjeev Sharma, Pardeep Parihar, Khursheed Ahmed Bhat, Ch. Sukhdev Singh,
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