Why change names of UPA-era schemes? this will cost BJP dearly, says Cong leader Pilot

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) Congress general secretary Sachin pilot on Thursday justified Opposition protest against MGNREGA name change and warned the BJP that rechristening UPA government-era schemes will cost it dearly.

Talking to reporters here, Pilot pointed out that the UPA government's rural jobs programme was named after Mahatma Gandhi and it mandated 100 days of employment to the poor constitutionally, and sought to know why it was renamed by the BJP-led dispensation.

"What was the need to change it (scheme name)?. People will not like this," the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister maintained, adding the Opposition protest over the issue was valid.

When the BJP came to power in 2014 at the Centre, it said MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act) was a mistake of the Congress-led UPA government, but didn't discontinue the scheme, he noted.

The BJP doesn't want people to remember the good work done by Congress governments in the past, the MLA from Tonk in Rajasthan claimed.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to replace the 20-year-old scheme MGNREGA amid tearing of papers by Opposition members who accused the government of destroying the rural economy and ignoring the principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

In a spirited reply to the eight-hour discussion on the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (G RAM G) Bill, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed large-scale corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA. PTI MR RSY