Udaipur: In view of what it termed as a serious attack on rural livelihoods by the BJP-led Central Government, and following the directives of the All India Congress Committee and the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee, the Udaipur Rural and Udaipur City District Congress Committees organized a peaceful sit-in protest today from 11:00 am outside the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Udaipur, under the *“MGNREGA Bachao Sangram”* mass movement.

After the protest, a memorandum addressed to the Hon’ble President of India was submitted, demanding protection of the Right to Work and restoration of MGNREGA in its original rights-based form.

Addressing the gathering, Udaipur Rural District Congress President **Raghuveer Singh Meena** said that this fight is not merely against the arrogance of those in power, but a firm resolve to protect the rights of the poor and workers. He alleged that the Modi government’s attempt to dismantle MGNREGA is not just the scrapping of a scheme, but a well-planned conspiracy to snatch away the constitutional rights of the poor, workers, and farmers. He recalled that MGNREGA, launched in the name of Mahatma Gandhi by former Prime Minister late Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi, became the world’s largest employment guarantee scheme. The scheme not only strengthened the backbone of the rural economy but also provided livelihoods, employment, dignity, and rights to crores of families.

He further alleged that under the pretext of “reforms,” the Central Government is deliberately weakening the scheme. According to him, the new law proposed by the Modi government neither guarantees work legally nor provides a constitutional right to employment. There is no assurance of 100 days of employment, no right to minimum wages, and even Gram Panchayats have been stripped of the authority to provide work. Decisions on who gets work will rest solely with the Central Government. Additionally, making states bear 40 percent of the expenditure will discourage work allocation, effectively conspiring to dismantle the scheme. He asserted that Congress workers will not tolerate any attack on the constitutional rights of villages, the poor, and workers under any circumstances.

Udaipur City District Congress President **Fateh Singh Rathore** said that the BJP-led Central Government is weakening and attempting to eliminate a public welfare scheme like MGNREGA. He emphasized that MGNREGA is not just a scheme but the backbone of rural India. It is the right of crores of poor families to live with dignity, and it will not be allowed to be abolished. He said MGNREGA guarantees not only employment but also dignity and self-reliance to millions of families. Weakening the scheme, curtailing the powers of Panchayats, and imposing a financial burden on states amount to a direct attack on the rural economy, which will be opposed on every front.

Congress leaders stated that party workers will continue to expose the anti-people policies of the BJP, especially attempts to weaken and dismantle MGNREGA, cut its budget, and delay wage payments. These conspiracies aimed at snatching the livelihood of poor rural workers will never succeed. The Congress Party, they said, is fighting and will continue to fight these moves at every level.

The protest meeting was conducted by **Dr. Sanjeev Rajpurohit**, and the vote of thanks was presented by **Dinesh Dave**.

After the protest, the Udaipur Rural and City District Congress Committees submitted a memorandum to the Divisional Commissioner addressed to the Hon’ble President of India, demanding restoration of MGNREGA in its original form.

The protest was attended by Udaipur Rural District Congress President Raghuveer Singh Meena, Udaipur City District Congress President Fateh Singh Rathore, Mavli MLA Pushkar Dangi, PCC Vice President Suresh Shrimali, PCC General Secretary Lal Singh Jhala, Saroj Meena, Pankaj Sharma, Rajasthan INTUC President Jagdish Raj Shrimali, former MLA Preeti Shaktawat, former Minister Dr. Mangilal Garasiya, former Sub-District Chief Laxmi Narayan Pandya, PCC General Secretary Suresh Suthar, former Rural President Kachru Lal Chaudhary, Sunil Bhajat, Block President Khemraj Meena, Chandra Prakash Menaria, Gulab Singh Rao, Ram Singh Chadana, Rajendra Jain, Onar Singh Sisodia, PCC Member Ramlal Gayari, Prof. Dariyav Singh Chundawat, Dr. Kaushal Nagda, Dr. Sanjeev Rajpurohit, Dinesh Audichya, Naval Singh Chundawat, former Mavli Pradhan Narendra Kumar Jain, former Jhadol Pradhan Radha Devi Parmar, Kamlesh Patel, Gajendra Kothari, Kamini Gurjar, Women Congress leaders Shanta Prince and Madhu Salvi, Rural Women Congress President Bhagwati Dangi, Laxmi Narayan Meghwal, Gopal Sarpata, Mahesh Tripathi, Laxmi Lal Soni, Modi Lal Prajapat, Roop Lal Salvi, Subhan Ali, Abdul Manan Qureshi, Abdul Razzaq, Laxmi Lal Purohit, Mahendra Damor, Rajesh Menaria, Gopal Jat, Shyam Lal Menaria, Kundan Kunwar of the Women Congress, along with many other office-bearers and Congress workers.
 

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