New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja on Wednesday called for the immediate restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to its full potential, stating that the rural poor–the “creators of food”–are currently living in extreme distress.
The Centre notified the implementation of the VB G RAM G Act today, replacing MGNREGA.
Addressing a press conference here, the CPI general secretary emphasised that the primary goal of the country should be to ensure livelihood, employment, and education for every citizen.
“Within the country, we should address all the problems of livelihood, employment for all, and education for all. To ensure and to achieve that goal, the NREGA must be restored. The rural poor must be protected. NREGA was brought in order to help the rural poor. They are the rural proletariat, and they are the creator of wealth, and in fact, I can say that they are the creators of food; they are food creators. Their life is in such distress that is why we demand that NREGA should be restored,” Raja said.
The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or VB G RAM G Act, was passed in the Winter Session of Parliament in 2025 and replaced the 100-day employment guarantee with a 125-day guarantee. However, the Opposition has criticised the legislation for removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme and bringing in the 60:40 share of funds between the Centre and States.
Turning his focus to the ongoing unrest among the student community regarding national entrance tests, the CPI general secretary argued that the current centralised system is failing the youth. He advocated for a return to a federal structure where states hold the authority over education.
“Now, this education, students are agitating everywhere, and this issue needs to be addressed without any delay. States must have the power and the right to decide the policies of education in their respective states. Examinations, whether it is NEET or any other examination, must be decentralised, and states should have the power and the right to decide,” Raja demanded.
This remark comes just a day after the Keralam Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Centre to undertake comprehensive reforms in the national examination system, with Higher Education Minister Roji M John citing repeated irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and other competitive examinations as a serious threat to the credibility of the country’s entrance examination framework.
Moving the resolution in the 16th legislative Assembly, Roji M John said repeated reports of question paper leaks, examination malpractice, technical failures and irregularities in evaluation had eroded public confidence in NEET.
The resolution also stated that since education falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution, policy decisions on national entrance examinations should be taken after consulting state governments in keeping with the principles of federalism. (ANI)
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