Press Release
4th July 2014
CITU DENOUNCES THE RAJASTHAN GOVT’S MOVE TO CONVERT THE ACT INTO A SCHEME
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions denounces the move by the BJP Govt in Rajasthan to dilute and scrap the “right based provisions for employment” under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) as reported by the press. The move initiated by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan to propose various changes in the MNREG Act and the various propositions made thereon are basically designed to strip MNREGA of the legal guarantee for employment and convert the right based Act into a scheme.
It appears, the BJP led Govt of Rajasthan is playing the role, in the backdrop of present political combine ruling at the centre (NDA) to pilot the programme for bringing about all brazenly anti-worker changes in the entire labour law regimes in the country. Its earlier decision to amend Industrial Disputes Act and the Factories Act etc was also meticulously designed to empower the employers to retrench workers at will, push sizable section of factories and their workers out of the coverage of most of the labour laws and curb the rights of the trade unions. And now the propositions for changes in MNREGA basically seeks to take away whatever legal guarantee for minimum 100 days employment available to rural households in a situation when rural unemployment has assumed an alarming proportion.
CITU vehemently condemns such move of the Rajasthan Govt, demands upon the Central Govt not to indulge in such exercise. CITU calls upon the working people throughout the country and all the trade unions irrespective of affiliations to unitedly resist any such anti-people move. CITU demands that the MNREGA must be implemented in letter and spirit to ensure full 100 days’ work for all rural households and also the provisions for unemployment allowance as envisaged in the Act.
Issued by
( TAPAN SEN )
General Secretary
