BJP government bent on dismantling rural work programme: Karat

The CPI-M Thursday pulled up the BJP-led government at the Centre for being "bent on dismantling" the 100 days rural work programme (MgNREGS) that was one of the flagship programmes of the previous Congress-led regime.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said the northeastern state of Tripura, the only government led by his party in the country, has been hard hit as the Centre reduced the allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

"One legislation, rights-based law which we got adopted in 2006 in parliament which provided 100 days of work on demand for a member of a family at a minimum wage, has provided some relief to the rural poor. Now the present government is bent on dismantling it," Karat said here.

He claimed Tripura was the best performing state in implementing the MGNREGS and succeeded in ensuring 88 days of work.

"Now Tripura is in serious trouble as the Centre reduced 47 percent funds for MGNREGS. The Centre wants to limit the scheme to only 200 districts in the country," he said.

CPI-M politburo member and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee dubbed as "extreme right wing politics" the attempts to curtail the MGNREGS.