Government not serious about critical issues: Aruna Roy

After resigning from the National Advisory Council (NAC), veteran activist Aruna Roy said Thursday that the government and parliament have not given due importance to critical issues faced by the nation.

Clarifying that she was not upset with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh specifically, Roy said she was upset with the system, which had not given due importance to issues like food security and pension.

"I am not upset with Dr. Manmhan Singh, I am upset with a government; I am upset with a parliament which is not able to pass a law," Roy said.

Roy, in her letter to NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had said it was "extremely unfortunate" that the prime minister rejected NAC recommendations on payment of minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and chose instead to appeal against the Karnataka High Court judgment ordering the payment of minimum wages to MGNREGS workers.

"I am upset with a system that is looking at so many other things, but not at so many hungry millions in my country, I am upset with a system which is not looking at pensions. Today the issues of concern are not those which should be of concern to a country where 60 percent of people live below the poverty line," Roy told a TV news channel.

Roy Wednesday resigned from the NAC, which is an advisory body to the UPA government on formulation of policy, citing differences with the government.

In her letter to Sonia Gandhi, Roy listed her differences with the government, especially over the refusal to give minimum wages to beneficiaries under the MGNREGS.