BJP government weakening welfare laws, endangering Aravallis: Rajasthan Congress

Jaipur, Dec 28 (PTI) Rajasthan Congress, which marked the party's foundation day with programmes across the state on Saturday, accused the BJP-led Central and state governments of undermining democracy, weakening welfare laws and endangering the Aravalli mountain range.

Addressing a seminar at the party headquarters in Jaipur, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra alleged that constitutional freedoms were under threat and the public welfare legislations brought in by earlier Congress governments were being systematically diluted.

Dotasra said laws enacted during the United Progressive Alliance government, including the Right to Information Act, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the Food Security Act, were being weakened.

He accused the Centre of curtailing the Right to Work promised under MGNREGA and of discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the allocation of work and compensation for crop loss.

The Congress leader also targeted the BJP government in Rajasthan, alleging that corruption was rampant and that attempts were being made to redefine the Aravalli mountain range to facilitate mining.

"Handing over the Aravallis to mining interests will destroy the state's ecological balance and accelerate desertification," he said, calling it one of the biggest scams in the state's history.

Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and former state Congress president C P Joshi, who also spoke on the occasion, highlighted the party's role in India's freedom struggle and its commitment to constitutional values.

Dotasra said the Congress has launched protests across districts to protect the Aravallis and defend MGNREGA, and urged party representatives to actively participate in the agitation.

The All India Congress Committee will roll out a nationwide campaign from January 5 against the "attempts to weaken the employment guarantee law", he said.

He called upon party workers to take Congress ideology to the grassroots and mobilise public opinion against the BJP's "authoritarian" governance. PTI AG RUK RUK