MGNREGA rename row: BJP says Modi govt aimed to change scheme's spirit

The BJP on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to rename the rural job guarantee scheme was not to alter its name but to change its "spirit".

Hitting back at the Congress following its criticism on renaming MGNREGA, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the opposition party and its leaders cannot understand the decision as they function with a sense of entitlement.

"The name on which the Congress considers its exclusive right belongs to the entire country," the BJP leader said in an apparent reference to Mahatma Gandhi's name.

The Union Cabinet approved a Bill on Friday to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as 'Poojya Bapu Grameen Rozgar Yojna'.

On Saturday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the Modi government, saying it was a "master" at renaming schemes and asked what was wrong with having "Mahatma Gandhi" in the name of the scheme.

Congress general secretary in-charge (organisation) K C Venugopal said the prime minister, who once called the MGNREGA a "monument of failure", is now renaming it to claim credit for the "revolutionary" scheme.

Hitting back, BJP's Trivedi said, "The prime minister is not changing the name (of the scheme) but its spirit."  Prime Minister Modi has dedicated his entire life to the service of the nation and the people and he works with this spirit, the BJP leader said.

"But the Congress, which has worked with the principle of 'aage-peeche hamri sarkar, hum hain yahan ke rajkumar' (we are in rule everywhere, we are the royals), cannot understand the spirit with which the prime minister works," he said, when asked about the Congress's criticism of renaming MGNREGA.

On the Congress's charge that the government was claiming credit for the scheme, Trivedi said the Congress has neither done any work that is useful nor worth taking any credit for.

"You renamed Kingsway as Rajpath because of the sense of raj (power). After Prime Minister Modi renamed it as Kartavya Path, it brought in a sense of duty," Trivedi said.

"The name, 7 Race Course Road, gave a sense of royal horse riding. When it was renamed Lok Kalyan Marg, it brought a spirit of public welfare. Renaming of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as Seva Tirth brought in a sense of service," he added.