Anti-poor Modi govt bent on oppressing MGNREGA workers: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on 17 April, Thursday alleged that the “anti-poor” Modi government is bent on “oppressing” MGNREGA workers and reiterated the party's demands that their per day be fixed at Rs 400 and that they be provided at least 150 days of work in a year.

On his X handle, Kharge shared a media report which claimed that the government is unlikely to raise the daily floor wage under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) substantially, on top of the usual annual hike, despite recommendations by two panels.

“It seems that the anti-people Modi government has refused to increase MGNREGA wages. This is like attacking the rights of MGNREGA workers,” Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

ऐसा लगता है कि जनविरोधी मोदी सरकार ने MGNREGA की मजदूरी बढ़ाने से इंकार कर दिया है।

ये मनरेगा श्रमिकों के अधिकारों पर कुल्हाड़ी चलाना है।

हाल ही में संयुक्त संसदीय समिति ने मनरेगा श्रमिकों की रोज़ाना मजदूरी को ₹400 करने की सिफारिश की थी।

2023 में बनी अमरजीत सिन्हा की High… pic.twitter.com/88u9YYJuLd

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 17, 2025

He pointed out that recently, the Joint Parliamentary Committee had the daily wage of MGNREGA workers to Rs 400 per day.

“Amarjeet Sinha's high-Level committee formed in 2023 had also suggested increasing wages and increasing the budget of MGNREGA. But the anti-poor Modi government is bent on oppressing MGNREGA workers,” the Congress chief said.

Be it excluding nearly 7 crore registered workers from MGNREGA by imposing the condition of , or allocating the lowest MGNREGA budget in the last 10 years as compared to the total Union Budget, the Modi government has been negatively impacting MGNREGA, he said.

“MGNREGA - Employment guarantee scheme was brought in nby the Congress Party for the poorest families of our country. We are firm on our two demands — minimum wage of Rs 400 per day should be fixed for MGNREGA workers and at least 150 days of work in a year be should provided to them,” Kharge said.